And yet it is proven over and over that a lack of regulation leads to the worst excesses by any number of individuals, small companies and large corporations. You don't think over-regulation was the cause of the current financial crisis do you? Oversight of business is an essential aspect of government...for exceedingly obvious reasons. The damage of under-regulation is worse by magnitudes than the cost of regulation.herodotus wrote:It just never ceases to amaze me how much animosity people have for 'greedy corporations' and how much trust they seem to have in regulators, as if the regulators never do stupid, wrong-headed things out of ignorance and just-do-something-itis; as if the greediest and largest companies don't have lawyers working full time to game the system in their favor.
Regulating tobacco is a public health issue in both human lives and costs to society. The effect on consolidation in the tobacco business is trivial by comparison and irrelevant.Funny, isn't it, how the anti-tobacco legislation that was supposed to bring down 'big tobacco' actually allowed the behemoths like Phillip Morris to increase their market share at the expense of smaller companies, who just couldn't afford the costs of compliance.
Nothing to apologize for. Some of us would miss these little ideological tussles.I just get this foolish urge to state my opinion on these matters from time to time.
Sorry.
