Hi Dave. I really agree with you on this point. Although I didn’t follow your link, I agree that it is too hard to open a business. Regulations are so hard to follow that you have to be a millionaire just to open a restaurant because you can’t begin to serve your first meal unless a minimum of three agencies sign off on it after you are ready to open your doors. Who has that kind of capital?

The irony here is that the government is making it so people of modest means can’t get in the game.

But is it the government? Of course it is. Who else wants to make sure you have fire extinguisher at each door? Who else wants to make sure your kitchen is sanitary? Wouldn’t we be better off if things were more like the third world, a free for all without any enforced regulation? Haiti seems to have the best form of government, don’t you agree? Of course not. We want safety and freedom and those are tough things to have together. The answer isn’t less government or more government, it is better government. But you don’t get better if you just want less.

You have to think of solutions to problems like “why can’t I open a restaurant without all the hassle”. How do I combine my desire for freedom and be safe, too? The answer could be that the planning department should be responsible for coordinating all the other agencies. Why shouldn’t you deal with one agency and they do all the government stuff instead of you? Businesses have customer satisfaction targets. Why can’t our government? Regulations are good if they make us safer, but they have to be implemented in a way that doesn’t stifle the free market.