Consumer-protection laws and regulations are often rationalized on the grounds that without them the public would make uninformed or foolish choices. But the risks arising from imperfect knowledge prompt consumers and entrepreneurs to discover new ways to assure quality and safety, thus undercutting the case for government regulation.
Daniel B. Klein is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Professor of Economics at George Mason University.
Bureaucracy and GovernmentEconomyFDA and Drug RegulationGovernment and PoliticsGovernment Waste/PorkPublic ChoiceScience and Public PolicyThe Nanny State
Other Independent Review articles by Daniel B. Klein
Spring 2023 Instilling Duties above Instilling Rights: Two Features of Adam Smith’s Talk of Justice and Liberty
Summer 2020 Adam Smith’s Rebuke of the Slave Trade, 1759
Winter 2017/18 The Joys of Yiddish and Economics
[View All (18)]