There's a dogma that regulation is de facto inefficient and bad generally, and I think it's almost universally accepted that that's the case for the self-interest of businesses. But like any dogma, any prejudice, it's wrong:<p>Businesses have self-interest; it's overwhelming and they can't escape it and its biases (though they can and should moderate it, and some businesses do that much better than others). Regulation provides an independent, expert power structure with great value where self-interest, or multiple self-interests, fail. It allows competitors to coordinate; to act with enlightened self-interest and (gasp) in the public interest - lawlessness is bad for business.<p>For example, in financial markets, unregulated self-interest leads to mountains of fraud, and a place where nobody wants to invest - that hurts everyone. A safe, fair marketplace attracts everyone.<p>For airplane manufacturers, self-interest drives manufacturers to cut corners. If you've ever advocated against cutting corners because of an over-the-horizon, non-specific risk (meaning, the consequences won't be tomorrow, and we can't say exactly what and when they will be), you know that you are violating social norms and can be very unpopular. But if you can say, 'this violates FAA regulations', then it's a clear and specific risk.