Editing Deregulation (section)

==== History of regulation ====

One problem that encouraged deregulation was the way in which regulated industries often come to control the government [[regulation|regulatory agencies]] in a process known as [[regulatory capture]]. Industries then use regulation to serve their own interests, at the expense of the consumer. A similar pattern has been seen with the deregulation process itself, often effectively controlled by regulated industries through lobbying. Such political forces, however, exist in many other forms for other [[lobby group]]s.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Examples of deregulated industries in the United States are banking, telecommunications, airlines, and natural resources.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cutter |first1=Susan L. |last2=Renwick |first2=William H. |title=Exploitation Conservation Preservation: A Geographic Perspective on Natural Resource Use |date=2004 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-471-15225-5 |oclc=52554419 }}{{page needed|date=December 2022}}</ref>

During the [[Progressive Era]] (1890s–1920), [[POTUS|Presidents]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[William Howard Taft]], and [[Woodrow Wilson]] instituted regulation on parts of the American economy, most notably big business and industry. Some prominent reforms were [[trust-busting]] (the destruction and banning of monopolies), the creation of laws protecting the American consumer, the creation of a federal income tax (by the [[Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Sixteenth Amendment]]; the income tax used a [[progressive tax|progressive tax structure]] with especially high taxes on the wealthy), the establishment of the [[Federal Reserve]], the institution of shorter [[working hours]], higher [[wage]]s, better living conditions, better rights and privileges to trade unions, protection of the rights of [[Strike action|strikers]], banning of unfair labor practices, and the delivery of more [[social welfare|social services]] to the working classes and [[social safety net]]s to many unemployed workers, thus helping to create a [[welfare state]].{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

During the Presidencies of [[Warren Harding]] (1921–23) and [[Calvin Coolidge]] (1923–29), the federal government generally pursued [[laissez-faire]] economic policies. After the onset of the [[Great Depression]], President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] implemented many economic regulations, including the [[National Industrial Recovery Act]] (which was struck down by the Supreme Court), regulation of trucking, airlines and communications, the [[Securities Exchange Act of 1934]], and the [[Glass–Steagall Act]] of 1933. These regulations stayed largely in place until [[Richard Nixon]]'s Administration.<ref>http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-16514254.html{{Dead link|date=October 2009}}</ref>  In supporting his competition-limiting regulatory initiatives President Roosevelt blamed the excesses of big business for causing an [[economic bubble]].  However, historians lack consensus in describing the causal relationship between various events and the role of government economic policy in causing or ameliorating the Depression.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}