For some time, 13-year-old Jaequan Faulkner has operated a hotdog stand in front of his house in Minneapolis. Recently, someone called the authorities to complain that he was operating without a permit. Rather than cite the teenager for violating city regulations, officials decided to help the entrepreneur through the process. Indeed, health inspectors donated the money to cover the $87 permit fee.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune editorialized that this was an example of good governance:
Solutions that keep a fledgling business open and help it grow will pay far more dividends than a more arbitrary enforcement mentality. Faulkner’s situation is emblematic of an outcome that government should strive for as often as possible…
Certainly, it is good that city officials didn’t slap Faulkner with fines and shut down his business. But what about the hundreds or thousands of other aspiring entrepreneurs who don’t get special treatment? It’s a great feel good story when a 13-year-old is helped. However, the media doesn’t cover the adult who abandons his entrepreneurial dreams in the face of government regulations. They are the unseen victims of government regulations.
The best way to help fledgling businesses is to get out of their way. Why should Faulkner or any other entrepreneur need the government’s permission to open a business? If an individual wants to offer a product or service for sale and others are willing to pay for it, it’s nobody’s business but theirs.
Of course, some argue that regulations are necessary to protect consumers. What if Faulkner was selling tainted meat, or otherwise jeopardizing the health of his customers? We need government regulations to ensure that he is selling safe food, the argument goes.
If Faulkner did that, he wouldn’t remain in business very long. Making customers ill is not a good business practice. More importantly, consumers should take responsibility for their decisions rather than depend on government to protect them through arbitrary edicts. Government regulations create a false sense of security, as Bernie Madoff, Enron, and countless other scam artists have demonstrated.
The right to property means the freedom to create, use, keep, trade, and dispose of material values. If an individual wants to sell hot dogs, light bulbs, lemonade, or anything else, morally he should not need the government’s permission to do so. And others have a right to purchase his products or abstain. That is what the free market is all about.