The great entrepreneur Elon Musk gives a textbook example of the collusion between state and entrenched business interests in a post to his Tesla blog. Tesla is now prevented from selling their cars directly, as this upsets the dealership model. The dealerships are of course in bed with the regulatory agency that governs them. This is how nearly all regulatory bodies operate – while claiming to protect the consumer, they actually protect the bloated pre-existing businesses from start-up competitors – cf.  “regulatory capture”

The choicest quote from Mr. Musk’s post:

The rationale given for the regulation change that requires auto companies to sell through dealers is that it ensures “consumer protection”. If you believe this, Gov. Christie has a bridge closure he wants to sell you! Unless they are referring to the mafia version of “protection”, this is obviously untrue. As anyone who has been through the conventional auto dealer purchase process knows, consumer protection is pretty much the furthest thing from the typical car dealer’s mind.

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