As far as government involvement and economics, the FAA gave Regionals plenty of latitude for a long time... then they abused it by squeezing everything possible out of pilots and started getting passengers killed. We wouldn't be here if they had implemented ethical practices as far as pilot pay and QoL on their own. The government will always step in when enough innocent people start getting killed. Even if 1500 hours is arbitrary as far as ADM/experience, it raises the pay significantly, which I think can be argued that it makes safer pilots. You aren't going to make as good of decisions making 20k a year, stressed out about making ends meet, living on a couch, always tired, etc. vs 50-60k a year with better rest rules and knowing you can go somewhere else if they jerk you around too much.