Caveat Emptor and Government Safety

This piece from the New York Times editors is typical of the ideological rigidity it attributes to the Bush Administration.

The Crabby Gray Hag attacks the Bush team for an "ideological drive to deregulate business." But the Times is at least as ideologically driven. It has this reflexive tendency to demand increased regulation with any economic transaction except between an abortion vendor and his customers, and makes the assumption that, excluding its declining readership, the American populace is a nation of naive consumers in need of protective eyewear and rubber gloves provided by an all-seeing state with a benevolent iron hand.

It has nothing but glowing references to the Consumer Product and Safety Commission, which "was 978 strong in its heyday," (when did regulatory agencies ever have 'a heyday?') and a "watchdog." But then the Times notes that people at least heard about about the Chinese toy recalls. But these recalls were initiated by Mattel itself, which probably calculates losses to its reputation alone as a far greater threat than 400 nosy bureaucrats.

But the end of the article is truly revealing. "Senator Mark Pryor, Democrat of Arkansas, is among those pushing to rebuild the agency, a few million dollars at a time. He ... should keep pushing. When greed or inefficiency trumps safety, consumers need a muscular Consumer Product Safety Commission to fight back."

We're right back to the Safety of the Benevolent State. A few million dollars at a time.

I believe that if something like the CPSC were to disappear (possibly in Grover Norquist's bathtub) something very similar to it would take its place in the nonprofit private sector. I could easily envision something like Consumer Reports, Underwriters Laboratories, or Stiftung Warentest taking its place.

The Germans have a famous organization, the Stiftung Warentest. It is sometimes considered in polls of the German people to be the most trusted institution in Germany, exceeding the churches, the government, the press, and even used car salesmen. It is somewhat financed by the Federal Ministry for Commerce, but is largely an independently-funded foundation, from what I understand. It tests everything from orange juice to cars to financial services, and it is recognized by 96% of the German population, according to its website. Organizations like these should be encouraged, but the more a government acts as regulator, the less incentive there will be for independent regulators, and the more the state acts as a nanny.

A few million dollars at a time.