Don't you think many of the regulations are put in place with support of the big players to keep competition out it?
Oh, yes indeed!
I addressed that:
Yes, some of the rich figure that spending $$$ on policritters gets a better ROI than innovation & suchlike (illegal immigrant & work-visa advocates, for instance).
Raising the barriers to entry is a goal sought by companies/folks who figure their $$$ better spent lobbying gov't than investing in their company.
Here's the thing:
With minimalist gov't, gov't does not have the power to raise barriers to entry. It takes a big, powerful gov't to do such things. The bigger the gov't, the more of this there will be until you enter the "crony capitalist" zone. Where we have been for quite some time.
Big gov't and big, overbearing business go hand in hand. It is much easier to regulate several big firms than a multitude of small firms.
Private/Gov't interaction is not a one-way street and it is nothing new under the sun. It is just human nature.
1. Self defense on the part of business owners/managers.
Like war, it does not matter if you are not interested in bog gov't, because big gov't is interested in you. You don;t want to be blind-sided and Lord help you if you cough up the smallest
bribe or post-gov't work offer campaign donation.
2. Owners/managers see the ROI of lobbying as greater than the ROI of innovation, improved operations, marketing, or other business-oriented activity. Contracts, barriers to entry, whatever.
I recall a subcontractor we dealt with whose biggest expense was lobbying his state congressional delegation. More than capital, employees, R&D, whatever. This small business was not really an IT company. It was a lobbying effort that did IT on the side and supported the family's lifestyle.
3. Congresscritters use regulation as a club to beat campaign donations and other considerations out of the business sector.
"It would be a shame if we made your business illegal."
4. Political and career staffers in Congress and the executive seeking post-gov't payoffs.
Bend a regulation when writing the details to favor one company or another...then move to the private sector. Or, write the regs in such a Byzantine manner that when you quit gov't, you are quickly hired by industry as the expert in negotiating the new regs.
Not all-inclusive, of course. Only way to minimize it is to minimize gov't.