jonathan

Tony Soprano Meets Subprime Lending

Not intending to "pile on" Thomas, but you should consider that ALL of the industries you mentioned are already regulated.

The mortgage market is regulated but unless government starts making the decision *for* potential homebuyers, which would be a horrific affront to independance (can you imagine standing in line at some "Department of Homebuying" for permission to purchase a house from some bureaucrat that cares less about your personal success than does the DMV?) people will take chances. That's a good thing in general; no risk no reward. In this case the homebuyer doesn't even really get burned. Sure their credit takes a big ding...which prevents them from racking up new loans for a while...but the lender is left holding the bag. The guy that loses the money learns the lesson for sure.

Food safety regulations cannot stop infection (e.g. e.coli) from happening...bacteria don't read law. The companies whose product was impacted lost huge amounts of money due to customers sudden fear of spinach...that is the world's best incentive for improvement. This happens periodically everywhere around the world, less here than in most places, and will only get worse with "organic" foods that (by regulation) will not be able to take many of the protective actions that non-organic food producers can use. Yay!

Student loan scandals are still unfolding but the regulation itself is most likely to turn out to be the culprit. How did it turn out that the schools that make the decision to accept or reject student applications are also the ones approving loans? Hmm, couldn't have to do with the Federal Education Department could it? Interestingly the regulations *already* require college financial aid officers to use impartial judgement...but they did not. So much for regulation fixing things.

Lack of desire to control automotive emissions? I can only assume that you mean the government's lack of desire. Implying that the government should control *citizens* desire for emission control woul dbe Orwellian. The government is not an entity unto itself, it is a reflection of the will of the people...or at least a properly functioning government is...so when the American people desire cleaner emissions rest assured that the government will turn that into some new action. Of course, long before the government does anything that desire will be reflected in the products that people buy and the market will already be adapting. Witness sales of hybrid vehicles.

If you mean to say that you cannot understand why everyone else does not share YOUR particular desires, and you wish that the government would bend people to your way of thinking by force (regulation) then perhaps you should just say that.

BTW, to answer you last question (serious answer): Government is not formed to rule people, it is formed to undertake tasks collectively that; a) everyone agrees on and that b) are too big for individuals to take on by themselves. Part a) is very important. If a task cannot be agreed on nationally then it should be handled at the state level...so different states can agree on different courses...if no agreement is reached at the state level then it should be done at the local level, etc. The only exceptions are those problems that have both a "Critical" component (mortal or other no-solution problems) AND a "Free-Rider" component. E.g. national defense is both life or death and even if you conscientiously object or disagree the nation still protects you so you are forced (via taxes) to share the burden.

I could go on all day.