Are Bans Good for Business?

While recently reading that LA County's ban on plastic bags, in unincorporated LA County, is to begin on July 1, I began to wonder whether bans, in general, are good or bad for business.

To help answer this, it's good to have some background on how bans come to fruition. Typically, an elected official is approached by a concerned citizen or special interest group with a situation that's near & dear to them. After much back and forth, debating on the merits of said ban, the group of elected officials take a vote.....and majority wins. I've oversimplified I'm sure. However, at the end of the day, majority wins.

In the case of the plastic bag ban, the LA County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 (with one Supervisor absent during the vote) to move forward with the ban. Yep, 3 "yes" votes decided this ban for 1 million+ residents (I don't know how many businesses will be affected).  There may have been a public notice or hearing, but certainly there was no public vote. Of course, it would be impossible to have a public vote on all legislative business that takes place in government; that's why we elect them....to represent us.

Getting back to bans.....Is a ban that restricts the way a retail business runs their business a good thing? I'm not picking on the plastic bag ban, but in general, is it OK to force businesses to change the way they do business just because a special interest group has captivated a group of elected officials?

Many would say, "Sure, ban away!" since this or that ban doesn't negatively affect them (perhaps a bit of NIMBY-ISM).  I feel differently. I don't feel all bans are necessarily good for business (some bans for safety reasons may be exceptions). I believe that many bans are "stepping stone" bans.  Meaning, if we ban plastic bags today, what's next tomorrow? Bans are easy to vote into law. Especially when done on a small scale such as LA County. Many bans force businesses into using products that cost more than what they currently use, cutting into profits and possibly forcing businesses to raise prices to consumers. How much of a say do we want government to have in how we run our own businesses?

So, tell us....are you generally in favor of bans that restrict the way we do business in Altadena? What type of ban would hurt your business? Is it OK to only implement bans for our own safety (think smoking, cell phones while driving)?