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By Ed Rutledge
I was recently asked what I would do to ensure that companies looking to increase their bottom line would act in a responsible manner. A typical response to this question would involve new or revised, and certainly increased, industry regulation. But such a response would miss the underlying issue.
There are two forces at work here; industry’s desire to drive profits, and government’s desire to interfere. Unfortunately, industry and government have found a way to mutually achieve their goals at the expense of small businesses and average citizens.
Government enacts regulations on industry, presumably to protect citizens. Large corporations then lobby for loopholes to counteract the financial impact of such regulations, which our politicians frequently grant. Citizens are effectively left unprotected, small businesses bear the brunt of the regulations, and large corporations are free to operate in compliance with the law but perhaps not in what would be reasonably considered a responsible manner.
Our politicians should be working to protect our individual rights. That is their job. Instead, they allow armies of lobbyists to direct legislation to the benefit of large corporations (as well as other special interest groups) and to the detriment of individuals and those groups which cannot afford lobbyists.
By shrinking the size, scope and cost of government, and by refocusing on government’s mandate to protect the rights of individuals, large businesses will no longer be able to buy their way out of corporate responsibility, they will be forced to compete on a level playing field, and they will be less likely to become “too big to fail.”
