<i>&gt; Their prices are as high as they can go already.</i><p>&quot;As high as they can go&quot; in what sense? If you mean their prices before regulation were determined by supply and demand, then the market was working and there was no need for the regulation. If you mean their prices were determined by something else, what?<p><i>&gt; Harmful regulation raises prices by raising the price of inputs</i><p>That&#x27;s one way regulation can be harmful, but not the only way. Another way is for it to outlaw positive sum transactions that, in its absence, would have taken place. You&#x27;re assuming without proof that the regulations in question &quot;know&quot; exactly which transactions are the &quot;right&quot; ones to outlaw. No real regulation has ever been anywhere close to that accurate.