...knowingly make a loan to someone who can't afford to pay it back? The only reason that would happen is because the government made them make the loan. That is exactly what happened with government-mandated CRA lending in the late 90s and early 2000s, which was a contributing factor to the financial crisis. Another contributing factor was the government-created moral hazard related to 1) deposit insurance and 2) implicit -- if not explicit -- backstopping of individual companies, which allowed them to take more risk than a free market would have allowed. This is what I mean -- government regulation CREATES problems. That's why it should be minimized.

As for self-regulatory bodies, we already have that. I'm in the financial world, for example, and I have to deal with a number of SROs to conduct my business, which is fine. I'm glad they are there. And they provide far more reasonable and thoughtful regulation of my activities than DC.

As for tainted food, how long do you think a business in the food industry who gets a reputation for continuously sending out "tainted food" will stay in business? Five minutes, give or take? That's what I mean by the Invisible Hand being the ultimate enforcer of good behavior.

You do have a point, as I previously acknowledged, regarding the dumping of toxins, which is called a "negative externality" in economics, in case you're not familiar with the term. There does need to be some government oversight of that activity, although I'd add that the Invisible Hand plays a major role here, too. Just look at the current ESG trends in the investing world or the various "green certifications" available for companies that want to brand themselves as such because the market is asking for it..

[Post edited by Los Angeles Hoo at 06/30/2022 11:46AM]