Hi Luke,

I think my point was that regulation need not be government regulation. Non-government regulation preceded government regulation. Even now, with lots of government regulation, there is also much more non-government regulation. Every organisation sets regulations for its staff, its customers, even its investors. Probably every householder sets the rules to be followed in his/her house (whether he/she owns or rents). But before anyone can 'legislate' rules, there must be unlegislated rules (evolved conventions) which make social co-operation (and thus persons) possible. Of course markets require regulations; but markets developed, and still do develop, without government regulation. Roads, for instance, were not originaly provided by government: they just emerged from people following in each other's footsteps. Roads do not need to be provided by government now: they could be privatised, with regulations for them set by their new private owners, who charge people for using them (we have the technology to be able to charge people for the amount of road they use and the times of day at which they use it, thereby using pricing to reduce snarl-ups).