Regulation+vs+Deregulation

Ryan Guy Regulation vs. Deregulation (energy and others) Who: National Gas industry Oil Industry. Electricity industry What: There have been almost no examples of total re-regulation. Instead balanced approaches to regulation that emphasize the quality of regulation over the quantity. That is, instead of simply removing (or adding) regulations on business, the point is to regulate business intelligently, using as sophisticated an economic theory as possible. Why: ' Regulated industries often control the government regulatory agencies, using them to serve the industries' interests. Arguments against deregulation (or for re-regulation) • A perpetual elimination of the weakest companies. • Corporations become desperate-to cut costs wherever possible to maximize profits. • Consumer and worker safeguards are reduced or eliminated. • Environmental safeguards are reduced or eliminated. • Convenience and comfort are reduced or eliminated. • Wages are reduced. • Workers are laid off by the thousands. • Production and workloads are pushed to the limit, often at the risk of life and limb. • Entire markets — for example, rural areas — are dropped if they are deemed low-profit. • In the final stages, a monopoly or oligopoly emerges, after which prices are raised, services dropped, quality reduced, and corruption and abuses of power become commonplace. • Workers from failed companies continue working in their fields by either joining the few surviving giants (usually at lower wages) or working alone (always at lower wages). When: 1978 - National Gas Policy Act PL 95-621 1989 - Natural Gas Wellhead Decontrol Act PL 101-60 1992 - National Energy Policy Act PL 102-486 1996 - California Emerge deregulation and resulting crisis (Enron) Examples of stuff that happened • After the trucking industry was deregulated in 1980, truckers ran their trucks without maintenance until they became road hazards. More than 100 .companies have gone out of business since then • Savings and Loan - To date, about 650 S&Ls.have gone under, and another 400 are threatening to. The final bill to the taxpayers: half a trillion dollars. Important information:
 * Deregulation ** is the process by which governments remove restrictions on business and individuals in order to (in theory) encourage the efficient operation of markets. The stated rationale for deregulation is often that fewer regulations will lead to a raised level of competitiveness, therefore higher productivity, more efficiency and lower prices overall.