Why do we make it so hard for small businesses in this country?

This post is inspired by this piece in Reason Magazine; Wisconsin Could Make It Impossible for Cottage Food Producers To Make a Living

Since 2017, Wisconsinites have been legally allowed to sell a number of home-baked goods to the general public, free to make as much money as their products can garner. But a new bill being considered by the Wisconsin Legislature could change that, essentially making it impossible for so-called cottage food producers to make a living.

Assembly Bill 897 would increase "the sales threshold from $5,000 to $20,000" for homemade food products, according to a state analysis of the bill. That might seem like an improvement, but "the current sales cap applies only to canned goods," notes Jobea Murray, board president of the Wisconsin Cottage Food Association. "All other cottage food products are currently unlimited in their sales." (A bill being considered by the Senate would impose a slightly higher annual cap of $25,000.)

So what if people bake cakes in their house and make a million dollars? Who cares?

Oh Nick, but these people could poison someone or something. Then what?

Generally speaking businesses are not in the business of poisoning their customers and even if something did go wrong there is a court system. The big food producers have recalls all the time. In fact, here’s a current list. There are dozens of them.

These sort of laws are not about public safety. They are all about creating barriers to entry. If a government makes it so you can only do $20k worth of business, guess what? The old players who own the factories and are distributed to grocery stores don’t need to worry. There is no way you and your oven are ever going to take any of their market share.

It’s not like people want to buy small batch artisanal foods or anything. Not like that is a longstanding trend. It’s not like people would like to spend their money in their own neighborhood supporting business people they have relationships with. No, better make sure that lady selling tamales out of her car to feed her children has the cops called on her. That makes for a much better society.