"When law extends beyond the minimal necessary to prevent force and fraud, businesses and individuals react to avoid it or bend it toward their selfish ends."

Why Lawyer Salaries Are Skyrocketing

Todd Henderson

Mr. Henderson is professor at the University of Chicago Law School.

"When law extends beyond the minimal necessary to prevent force and fraud, businesses and individuals react to avoid it or bend it toward their selfish ends. These reactions require more advanced regulation, which then causes additional avoidance. This vicious cycle means that exponential growth in complexity is baked into the system. It is no wonder that all measures of government size–whether it is the budget, the number of pages of federal regulation or the wealth of Washington, D.C. (home to seven of the ten richest counties in America)–are increasing."

HT:TH