Monday, August 16, 2010

O ye rogue monks

Regulatory capture occurs when a state regulatory agency created to act in the public interest instead acts in favor of the commercial or special interests that dominate in the industry or sector it is charged with regulating.

Related...
Rent seeking occurs when an individual, organization or firm seeks to earn income by capturing economic rent through manipulation or exploitation of the economic or political environment, rather than by earning profits through economic transactions and the production of added wealth.


Yesterday, we saw how a handful of distributors and beer and wine makers are attempting to squeeze out the competition by restricting the ways and means by which wine and beer can be purchased and transported.

Today, we are seeing how the monks of Saint Joseph Abbey of Covington, LA who for the past 100 years have been hand-crafting caskets of "noble simplicity" are being sued by the state of Louisiana for selling caskets without a license.

The caskets are an important part of the Abbey's income but now the monks face crippling fines and even jail time for their wanton non-compliance.

The Institute for Justice has taken up the monks' cause which is detailed in the video below via Secular Apostate.

2 comments:

Road Dawg said...

So what's the argument for the restrictions? Can't use the "its for the children" bit here.

Dean said...

That would indeed be a stretch.