Monday, March 31, 2014

the aim of regulation [should not be] to minimize interference [but] to maximize output

--- Ronald Coase, "The Federal Communications Commission," Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 2 (1959), p. 27, doi:10.2307/724927

Quote in context:
It is sometimes implied that the aim of regulation in the radio industry should be to minimize interference. But this would be wrong. The aim should be to maximize output. All property rights interfere with the ability of people to use resources. What has to be insured is that the gain from interference more than offsets the harm it produces. There is no reason to suppose that the optimum situation is one in which there is no interference.