A consumer regulation is a government policy, issued either by an executive or a legislative body, that attempts through the use or threat of force to prohibit particular goods from being traded in the marketplace. In the United States numerous such regulations are issued by agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In most cases regulators describe their policies in euphemistic terms, making no reference to their prohibitionary aspect; rather, the regulations are said to ensure that all goods traded will adhere to government "standards." The reality, of course, is the same.

The avowed purpose of consumer regulation is "to protect consumers." In the free market, as we have previously observed, consumers are free to obtain such protection from private sources at will (pp. 4.10:2-4). In principle all specialists now employed by the regulatory arms of the government, such as the FDA, USDA, and similar agencies, could be hired by consumers in the voluntary marketplace, if those consumers so desired. Although these "authorities" would no longer possess coercive power, those who believe they need such guidance could follow their directives scrupulously, accepting only products endorsed by those experts.     

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