Government Regulation

Well before this century people have been in conflict over how much regulation the government should be allowed to impose. In the 18th century, Jean-Baptiste Colbert coined the term laissez-faire; it represents a situation of freedom from government intervention. It was later discussed extensively by Adam Smith, who was responsible for giving the motto laissez-faire much more conceptual clarity. Throughout the years, each president has differed with respect to how much control the government should have in monitoring the market. For example, Ronald Reagan believed that “only by reducing the growth of government, can we increase the growth of the economy” (Niskanen). President Obama, on the other hand, is clearly more supportive of government intervention, as he has worked hard to garner support for his stimulus package (i.e., The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), which he believes will counteract the effects of the economic downturn. Government regulation has once again become an important topic as the Tea Party has begun to receive more attention. In this essay, I would ultimately like to show that regulation is, to a certain extent, a necessary responsibility of the government. Because of the tumultuous economy that people around the world are feeling the effects of, many are beginning to think deeply about what role the government should play. In this essay, I will use specific examples to examine how government intervention affects businesses. The examples that I will use to give validity to my argument will come primarily from an evaluation of policies that have been implemented over the years and the far-reaching results of the economic recession that we have experienced most recently (i.e., the automobile industry crisis and the housing market crisis). Smith’s laws of the market are simple; under the right circumstances, the outcome of the market can be predictable. Why then have we experienced so much randomness in our

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