The cynic in me leans heavily on the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootleggers_and_Baptists model of regulation. Most legislation is a compromise among many different interests, and it’s easy to imagine that the parts which don’t make sense are a mix of:
Economic thinking and relying on prices was (and is) very unpopular for things important enough to justify regulation in the first place.
Some bakers (presumably higher-volume and more influential) benefit by limiting their competition. This prevents someone offering higher-quality or cheaper bread.
Price-fixing (including quality-fixing) almost always benefits those who’ve figured out the scaling/pricing at that level, to the detriment of experimentation and upstarts.
The cynic in me leans heavily on the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootleggers_and_Baptists model of regulation. Most legislation is a compromise among many different interests, and it’s easy to imagine that the parts which don’t make sense are a mix of:
Economic thinking and relying on prices was (and is) very unpopular for things important enough to justify regulation in the first place.
Some bakers (presumably higher-volume and more influential) benefit by limiting their competition. This prevents someone offering higher-quality or cheaper bread.
Price-fixing (including quality-fixing) almost always benefits those who’ve figured out the scaling/pricing at that level, to the detriment of experimentation and upstarts.