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The Theory of Economic Regulation

2021/02/13 by George J. Stigler · 1 citation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Economic Theory and Institutions

paper · doi:10.4324/9781315495811-8

openalex publication_date 2021/02/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/16

Abstract

The state—the machinery and power of the state—is a potential resource or threat to every industry in the society. With its power to prohibit or compel, to take or give money, the state can and does selectively help or hurt a vast number of industries. Regulation may be actively sought by an industry, or it may be thrust upon it. A central thesis of this paper is that, as a rule, regulation is acquired by the industry and is designed and operated primarily for its benefit. The state has one basic resource which in pure principle is not shared with even the mightiest of its citizens: the power to coerce. The state can seize money by the only method which is permitted by the laws of a civilized society, by taxation. The state can ordain the physical movements of resources and the economic decisions of households and firms without their consent.

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