Regulation always benefits businesses. Select businesses. Otherwise it would never get passed.Regulation is a funny animal though. Always a little extra in the legalese that may not benefit citizens or businesses.
Follow me in a thought experiment if you would. Pretend with me that instead of being made up of upright citizens sworn to uphold the constitution and defend liberty, that the congress is made up of money grubbing whores who by and large would do anything to stay in office, stay in power, and make a buck.
I know it's a stretch, but go with me on this.
Now a piece of legislation comes before these whores. Do you honestly think if it hurt their campaign donors at all, or if it did at least also gave them something in return for that hurt, that there is any way this side of a snowball fight in hell it would get through the legislature?
Now back to reality, which is basically one hair away from the above thought experiment, do you really think any legislation ever was really meant to help you, or me? Government is power. It is violence. It is brute force, and the only reason to employ it is to get through force what you couldn't get through voluntary action. Therefore when legislation pops up, ask who supports it. This holds for almost any piece of legislation that has been visited upon us.
FDIC and Glass Steagle? FDIC socializes bankers losses. They no longer have to maintain safe balance sheets and when the **** up the tax payers pay their depositors off so the banker can stay flush.
Anti Trust? Look who was lobbying for it and who uses it now: sour grapes competitors. Well over 80% of all anti trust suits are private complaints.
Legislation is now and has always been the tool by which the market is manipulated in democracies. And in the progressive era especially a ton of it was passed, supposed public interest legislation, that really does nothing but empower certain businesses at the expense of other businesses and ultimately the consumer.