Regulation begets regulation

Hattip: TaxBlog
The big problem with introducing legislation - especially that which is attempted to be targeted - is that invariably the loopholes and unintended consequences rely on further legislation to back it up.  And so we get caught in the spiraling increase of ever increasingly complex laws and regulations.  The only people who really win in this are lawyers and the IRD (due to the penalties they impose on those who inadvertently break one line of these tomes of rules).
Note that this is one of the key reasons that I support the principles of Libertarianism - because oddly enough the typical answer to the inequities created through deregulation is that further deregulation is required.  Normally the problem is that another law or rule has been left in place that is creating an inequitable situation and so the answer is to remove that as well.  And so we are caught in what I would see as a virtuous cycle - rather than the cycle of inertia promised by the alternative.
Tags: nz, new zealand, law