The question of whether government policy can
fortify commerce or stultify commerce has a very simple answer: it
can. The empirical proof is the town of Emeryville.
Emeryville is a small political entity on the Bay between Berkeley and Oakland. Emeryville, forty years ago, began to replace dying manufacturing plants with modern diversified commerce, retail, wholesale and light manufacturing. The zoning and taxation were all favorable to business. Today, Emeryville has an impressive skyline, great schools and thriving businesses.
I couldn't find a good photo of Emeryville from the air, so I had to take this video myself (I don't have a good SLR digital camera). What is distinct is that Emeryville has the same geography, transportation and work force as Berkeley and Oakland. But Emeryville thrives while the other two are commercially sick. The difference: Berkeley is run on the principles of Cuba, by Left wing ideologues and Oakland is run on the systems common in Nigeria, corrupt-cronyism.
There you have it: empirical, visual evidence of what works and what doesn't work. Pro commerce is prosperity, anti-commerce is crime, depression, boredom and malaise.