"Americans have been given the impression that "regulation"..."

"Americans have been given the impression that "regulation" is always a good thing, and that anyone who speaks of lessening the regulatory burden is an antisocial ogre who would sacrifice safety and human well-being for the sake of economic efficiency. 
....
The real history of regulation is not so straightforward.  Businesses have often called for regulation themselves, hopeful that their smaller competitors will have a more difficult time meeting regulatory demands.  Special interests have helped to impose utterly senseless regulations that impose crushing burdens on private enterprise- far out of proportion to any benefit they are alleged to bring- but since those interests bear none of these burdens themselves, it costs them nothing to advocate them." -Page 91 of The Revolution, A Manifesto