[White Doors]

Originally Posted by CaramonLS

Ok, but really, insurance companies were trying to raise Driving insurance rates yet again even though Alberta had the highest in Canada by FAR. It wasn't until the government stepped in and stopped the BS did something actually happen. Even younger drivers with clean records were getting bent over with insane rates. With the god awful transit system in this city, its no wonder everyone drives a car.

When there is a law and such forcing drivers to have insurance, then yes, definately regulation of an industry such as this needs to be considered, so companies can not completely take advantage.

Energy is another one, electricity for your home is something you need, so regulation by the government in the form of price controls/fixes.

Regulation/Intervention is definately good in some cases, and if it is an essential good, I'd say that there is a really strong case to be made for regulation.

Also, if there is a natural monopoly on a certain industry (Startup costs are extremely high which significantly limits the possible plays in the market, think telephone lines (AT&T/Telus/AGT).) I beleive those industries are partially government regulated, this allowed competitors such as sprint and other Long distance companies to rent part of their network for a fee so they can set up competition to keep prices in line - this was more of a deal in the early 90s. You can apply this sort of logic to Oil/Gas as well, but it isn't entirely a parallel connection.

I hope that at least answered part of your question.

Regulation on not cutting off heat when it's -35, yes - but not price regulation. That only leads to not investing in infrastructure and in the not-too-long term, higher energy prices for all. Look to Ontario for a good example of this.