Government regulation is not an alternative means of protecting the consumer.
It does not build quality into goods or accuracy into information. Its sole “contribution” is to substitute force and fear for incentive as “the protector of the consumer”. The euphamisms of government press releases to the contrary notwithstanding, the basis of regulation is armed force.
At the bottom of the endless pile of paperwork which characterizes all regulation, lies a gun.
The Assault on Integrity – Alan Greenspan (1963)