Farewell Ron Paul

[balamw]

Originally Posted by Zombie Acorn

Without the government's involvement we never would have seen a sub-prime mortgage crash, because there likely wouldn't have been much of a sub-prime market.

History reveals plenty of bubbles and crashes that did not have this kind of government involvement. e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

B

[dukebound85]

Originally Posted by Jackintosh

Take a look at auto safety history. Ralph Nader's seminal book "Unsafe at Any Speed" details the resistance by car manufacturers to the introduction of safety features, like seat belts, and their general reluctance to spend money on improving safety. GM resisted changing in the name of profits, and harrassed Nader in his personal life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed

Interesting. I may try and pick that up on Amazon. Thanks for the link

[NickZac]

Originally Posted by Sydde

The market will move whatever it can get away with (e.g., Fen-phen, sub-prime mortgages trans-fat), and people will buy it.

I agree with you that in most situations, companies are not going to necessarily look out for any interests other than their own, which necessitates there being some type of administrative or peer review, and organizations setting certain standards such as the organization that determines if electrical products are reliable or will burn your house down.

I think a lot of time people advocate a completely unregulated market without realizing that certain types of oversight benefit not only the consumer, but the company as well (i.e.: liability). We can have a free market without a totally unregulated market, which many people do not seem to think. We just have to find the right blend of hands off versus moral review.