Technology Liberation Front - Latest Comments in TCS Daily on Regulatory Policy

Re: TCS Daily on Regulatory Policy

Mike Wendy — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:08:41 -0000

I had a similar epiphany ealrier this year on a trip from my in-laws in Miami to my parents in Boca.

To the point: Family-tow, my young daughters in need of lunch, and strongly vocalizing their desires, we stopped at a fast food restuarant drive-thru, hoping to expedite the process. No deal. I ditch and go into the establishment, which resulted in an even longer wait.

I thought - wow, how can a business stay in business if it does this stuff? The answer - it won't for long if it continues with the delays. It's called "fast food" for at least one reason.

It'll simply go out of business - self-correction.

Having more time on my hands than I had intended, I thought how this relates to government and regulations. It seems to me that the "self-correction" mechanism has at least a four-year time frame, best case scenario. Sadly, regulations have a tendency to stay on the books rather than dissapear. Thus, it seems to me that the "self-correction" mechanism - something of great import in market dynamics - is certainly not a primary (or any) goal of regulations and regulators, as noted in insightful Solveig's piece.

Re: TCS Daily on Regulatory Policy

eee_eff — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 15:09:00 -0000

In contrast, self-correction is not a common response to regulatory failures. There is no good explanation for how an agency or a system of rules can be designed to systematically succeed or self-correct.

Yes, there is and several economists have discussed this issue. The primary mechanism that regulatory schemes use to self-correct is democracy, accompanied by a healthy free press, in which unpopular or unwise regulations become changed, or necessary ones are enacted. In particular the work of Amartya Sen stands out in this regard. Karl Polanyi also approached this issue, with his considerations of how economic life is embedded within social and political structures.

Re: TCS Daily on Regulatory Policy

Don Marti — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:07:48 -0000

What about competition among jurisdictions? Look at the "do business in Alabama" or "do business in North Dakota" ads in any big business magazine.

Re: TCS Daily on Regulatory Policy

Steve_R — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:22:57 -0000

Self-correction may not be a common response to regulatory failure. One reason we have "regulatory failure" is that many of our regulations actually result from professed capitalists who hypocritically pay lobbyists to sheppard the passage of favorable regulation to protect their business models. Real capitalists wouldn't be lobbying the government for self-serving regulations that need correcting (revision) when the business model fails.

Re: TCS Daily on Regulatory Policy

Skip Oliva — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:42:46 -0000

Federal Trade Commission Chairman William Kovacic obviously didn't get the message. He says "self-assessment" is the *only* way to go...

http://voluntarytrade.org/blog/?p=478