Deregulation is the process by which governments removes selected regulations on business in order to encourage the theorical efficient operation of markets. The theory is that less regulations will lead to a raised level of competetivness, therefore higher efficency and lower overall prices. Deregulation is different from liberalization, because a liberalized market, allowing plural or infinital players, can be regulated, to protect specially the end consumer rights, specially to prevent de facto or law-allowed oligopolies.
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2 European Union 3 Japan 4 New Zealand |
United States
Deregulation was a major trend in the United States in the last quarter of the twentieth century. A number of major deregulation initiatives were passed. Some of these were withdrawn quickly (but not quickly enough to avoid major problems), including the deregulation of savings and loans. American savings banks, which were permitted to lend unfettered, had their depositors funds insured by the federal government, creating a moral hazard. Others have been considered more widely successful, including deregulation of transportation, the gas market, and the electricity market. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the media market was significantly deregulated.
Related Legislation
European Union
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