On the other hand, if they were so much better, shouldn't those "red states" be the ones with the much better economies?

I'm looking at China and what environmental price in the form of polluted land they pay and will be paying for a very long time. The big problems in Western countries also all originated in times with less or no regulation of such things. Just because that's not in the headlines all the time does not mean the problem is any less while the public is not paying attention.

When "it works" and overall success is the only criteria, the Vikings and Mongols surely count as extremely successful. Regulation is meant to take the price into account, in the cases of those two peoples millions of dead and a lot of pillaging and conquering. Regulation is definitely a burden, if you don't have to care about anything but the bottom line it's much easier.