I'm pretty sure it was intended to do just what it did do - protect entrenched interests. But I agree that it did the opposite of the claimed intention. Which is often the case for legislation.
The real question is, who were the "baptists" in this coalition? Were there any non-doctors who honestly believed having too much capacity would make prices go up? And if there were, where did these people learn economics? :-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootleggers_and_Baptists
The real question is, who were the "baptists" in this coalition? Were there any non-doctors who honestly believed having too much capacity would make prices go up? And if there were, where did these people learn economics? :-)