Regulations took previously externalized costs passed to labor and made them internalized costs to businesses.
A lot of that which is cheap is only cheap because a combination of exploitation that involves externalizing costs and pushing constant pressure on labor efficiency. Every now and then we get gains in reduced cost from a technological innovation where a simpler or improved process is able to shave things off vs passing them on. In these cases, gains tend not to be externalized but instead internalized unless competition can drive the gains to be externalized.
A lot of that which is cheap is only cheap because a combination of exploitation that involves externalizing costs and pushing constant pressure on labor efficiency. Every now and then we get gains in reduced cost from a technological innovation where a simpler or improved process is able to shave things off vs passing them on. In these cases, gains tend not to be externalized but instead internalized unless competition can drive the gains to be externalized.