“Regulation — which is based on force and fear — undermines the moral base of business dealings. It becomes cheaper to bribe a building inspector than to meet his standards of construction. A fly-by-night securities operator can quickly meet all the S.E.C. requirements, gain the inference of respectability, and proceed to fleece the public. In an unregulated economy, the operator would have had to spend a number of years in reputable dealings before he could earn a position of trust sufficient to induce a number of investors to place funds with him. Protection of the consumer by regulation is thus illusory.” Alan Greenspan, (1926- ) Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (1987-2006). Source: “The Assault on Integrity,” August 1963 in “The Objectivist.”
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