The Alternative

I was pretty excited to learn Hampton would have a brew-pub. Like Tom T. Hall, I like beer. It makes me a jolly good fellow.

I could live without it but it goes good with food. I'll have one with supper every night as long as freedom rings. When I learned that Rustic Brew had to wait for some sort of state control to serve their own concoctions, I just chalked it up to another notch in the grip of the state over its subjects.

As I visit with people in every conceivable business, it's the same story; ridiculous regulations increase their costs which are then passed on to consumers. That is if they survive the tight margins created by these unnecessary rules that threaten their viability.

There has been a huge amount of growth in the micro-brew business. But much of it is hitting a ceiling. There are state limits to quantities a brew-pub can sell and they are limited to selling through established distributors.

I'm not getting into specifics in Iowa because this column is about the general effects of regulation and I don't want them clouded by details. The article I read about this included a Michigan brewery that has put on hold a $2 million expansion and 120 new jobs because of state regulations protecting established breweries.

The question that should immediately come to mind is, who benefits from these laws? Of course it is the members of the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association. They see inroads by brewers of beer with taste, as opposed to yellow carbonated water, into their market, so they have given over $3 million in campaign contributions in order to supposedly protect the safety of beer and preserve an “orderly” market.

My dad often spoke of the damage trade associations do to consumers. But he fell into the same trap as many others. There's nothing wrong with the associations; it is their influence on government that is the problem. The regulations shouldn't exist at all. There is no need for them except as a weapon used to circumvent a market that might direct consumers to their competitors.

The examples above are but a tiny part of the problem. Remember the embassies being closed in the Middle East because of terrorist threats? When I heard about this I thought, that's a good start. Why do we have embassies at all? Are they bases for spies? Spies would work better out of a less conspicuous base anyway.

What is wrong with Americans' relationships in foreign countries bypassing the middlemen at embassies? For Americans who want to stay home, why should they pay taxes to support staff in luxurious mansions and offices all over the world getting in the way of free trade?

The reason for embassies is the same as the reason for regulations on micro-breweries; to protect businesses that shift their costs onto someone else. As we watch or read or listen to the news, where does it come from? Government. We've become accustomed to having all input filtered through government to such an extent that we accept the notion that nothing happens without it.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Government stifles. It doesn't create anything. It merely shifts costs from the less connected to those with deep enough pockets to buy politicians.

If an American wants to buy rugs or sell farm equipment in the Middle East he should pay for his own protection or rely on police over there, just as we pay for law enforcement here to protect whoever comes here. The cost of that trade should be borne by the beneficiaries of that trade. If the farm machinery is important enough for the trading partner's country to ensure the safety of trade reps over there, they will.

Embassies serve the same purpose as regulations of business. Without them, the true cost of products traded all over the world would be reflected in the price of the product, instead of distorted with taxpayer handouts to favored businesses.

Suggestions of closing embassies will be met with accusations of isolationism. But the truth is embassies and government relations with foreign governments in general are the epitome of isolationism. Embassies stand in the way of private citizens' relationships overseas in the same way regulations stand in the way of me getting a good beer from an entrepreneur in Hampton.

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