The interference of the government in industry is a radical departure from the older notion that business should be free from all state regulation or oversight. Radical as it is, the change from laissez faire back toward mercantilism came in response to the demand of society that it be protected from its most powerful industrial members. Just what effect the various anti-trust laws and the court decisions based on them have had on production, it is impossible to say. And because of this very uncertainty, caution and care must be exercised by the government in diverting enterprise from one channel to another. Moreover, government regulation and government interference, let us remember, are likely to be the first steps toward government ownership.