This blog post refers to a fellow classmate’s post which can be found here.
In Twinkle’s post, she comments on the clash between the free market and government regulation by bringing up the example of Uber who wants to expand to larger cities but is finding it difficult due to restrictions in those places.
What she also talks about is building a bridge between the government and businesses to come to a point of compromise that allows for a profitable business to exist within the constraints of government regulation.
Personally, I believe that she is correct in stating this. However, realistically, it is easier said than done. It is a fact that clash between government and businesses will always exist given that there are different agendas at play promoting different ideals.
Another example of government intervention in business is the Netflix-CRTC debate. Essentially, the CRTC is a regulatory body whose goal is to ensure Canadian content within television and media. The CRTC has recently asked Netflix to hand over user data to the Canadian government as a tool to monitor Canadian viewer data. Naturally, Netflix disagreed and refused to hand over this data to the CRTC on grounds of privacy and protecting their customers. Since Netflix is a American company, the question of jurisdiction falls into play as one can question if the Canadian government truly has power to demand such an action from Netflix.
Ultimately, the conflict between businesses and regulatory bodies leads to many interesting debates and I believe each case varies in the way it should be best dealt with. Sometimes the government over-regulates, thus harming the free market. But sometimes regulation is beneficial as it protects consumers. Very debateable.
source – www.mentorworks.ca
source – www.setting-up-a-business.com