"To be fair, rarely does either side argue against regulation as such. The real issue is the structure of regulation and its impact on economic outcomes, especially income distribution."
Regulation is everywhere. Lets choose who benefits.
by Dean Baker
"The extraordinary financial collapse of recent months has been commonly described as a testament to the failure of deregulation. The events are indeed testament to a failurea failure of public policy. Blaming deregulation is misleading.
In general, political debates over regulation have been wrongly cast as disputes over the extent of regulation, with conservatives assumed to prefer less regulation, while liberals prefer more. In fact conservatives do not necessarily desire less regulation, nor do liberals necessarily desire more. Conservatives support regulatory structures that cause income to flow upward, while liberals support regulatory structures that promote equality. Less regulation does not imply greater inequality, nor is the reverse true."
Boston Review — Dean Baker: Free Market Myth
I know I'm responding to the article, but the essence of free market capitalism is that there is no flow anywhere to a place undeserving; neither up or down. The rich and powerful get immense help from the government regulations, many supported by both parties, that limit or bar entry into marketplaces creating many monopolies, give preference to certain players in certain industries over others (GM, Chrysler, etc in the auto industry), subsidizes the industries completely which royally harms the consumer (ethanol), etc. Those regulations are the ones that laissez-faire capitalists are whole-heartily opposed to, as well as regulations that punish companies for being very productive and delivering a quality, cheap product.
I don't know who this article is referring to as "conservative" but the batch we've seen for the last 8 years hardly count. They vote for Keynesian stimulus packages when the WH is ran by a Republican, but finally abide by their moral convictions when it's not? That's bullshit, and we all know it. Conservatives are those that stand by the people over government prowess, and do so no matter what political circumstances arises.