http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jul/31/innovation-killed-by-politicians/Which government agency has done the most to destroy innovation? The American Founders tried to create an environment to foster innovation, because they understood new inventions would increase the well-being of the citizens. And that is the reason the Constitution enabled Congress to create patents of limited duration.
Most politicians say they favor innovation, but at the same time they create regulations, taxes and government agencies that hobble or prohibit that same innovation. One of the most notorious innovation killing agencies is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), whose mission is to “protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.”
In reality, it far too often denies investors the opportunity to invest in new and promising technologies and in new companies — all which undermine productive capital formation and economic growth.
Last week, according to The Wall Street Journal, the SEC “moved to restrain a hot new fundraising method involving sales of digital coins.” The method is known as ICOs, (initial coin offerings), and more than $1 billion has been raised this year through ICOs. After the announcement, Bitcoin lost 7 percent of its value and Ether (another digital coin) lost 12 percent of its value. So, here again, we have the SEC, in its lust for control and power, not protecting consumers, but destroying wealth for investors in the whole new field of digital coins....
More at link. Interesting Opinion from a well known economist.