Monday, October 25, 2010

What Price Ignorance?



Jesse Kelly wants to go to Washington D.C. to fix the government. His approach is simple and stupid. Watch it:





A transcript is available at Think Progress.

Simple-and-stupid has a certain appeal, don't you think? For instance, it's very simple to lump all kinds of regulations into the same bucket and then to spit into it, despite the fact that different types of regulations are aimed at quite different goals. Simple but stupid.

It's also simple to assume that the financial industry was heavily regulated before it decided to implode and explode. Simple but incorrect, because we spent the last two decades pulling out the teeth of any regulatory beast still padding along the corridors of power. It was simpler that way. Also much more stupid.

Finally, it's really stupid to assume that consumers could go out and test all the foods and medications out there, and it's really really stupid to assume that no manufacturer would ever wish to adulterate the product to save some money. The recent Chinese experience tells us that if our ability to remember doesn't reach further past.

Simple-and-stupid is the fashion this election year, sadly.