If a detailed, factual study were made of all the instances in the history of American industry which have been used by the statists as an indictment of free enterprise and as an argument in favor of a government controlled economy, it would be found that the actions blamed on the businessmen were caused, necessitated and made possible only by government intervention into business. The evils, popularly ascribed to big industrialists, were not the result of an unregulated industry, but of government power over industry. The villain in the picture was not the businessman, but the legislator, not free enterprise, but government controls.
Ayn Rand – Notes on the History of American Free Enterprise