The Need for Regulation in an Increasingly Complex World
The trend in this modern world is towards continually greater complexity. In a world where the choices that face us are ever more complex, there is a great need for regulation and a variety of mediating institutions that can provide citizens with meaningful information and useful judgments and evaluations.
Some examples of the increasingly complex choices we face include the wide variety of financial decisions consumers are faced with, with regard to savings, borrowing, and mortgages; The environmental and social impacts of our lifestyle choices; Our choices with regard to philanthropic activities and their effectiveness; political choices and exercising political influence at the state, federal, and local levels; career development and educational choices; choices relating to the raising of children and managing a family; choices with regard to food consumption, cooking, and dining; choices with regard to physical health, medical treatment, and physical activity.
I know that I myself am overwhelmed by the breadth of my choices, though I am highly educated and informed relative to the general populus. How much more overwhelmed must so many others be, who may not have as many advantages in terms of education and access to information.
Therefore I find it very puzzling when politicians advocate for deregulation as a solution to our modern problems. We clearly need more regulation, and more information, and greater transparency throughout all these choice realms. Of course we do not need regulation for its own sake, but in order to protect people from harmful choices and lack of information. And all regulation need not come from the government - in some cases non-profit associations can play that role. But the general need for more regulation and more organizations that monitor, inform, modulate, and oversee is indisputable.
A recent look at the economic and policy challenges of past few years highlights this trend. Some recent economic crises include:
-The recent collapse of the housing market due to inadequately supervised mortgage lending practices and mis-understood financial instruments related to mortgages
-Spiking electricity prices in California due to the manipulation of markets by a few electricity trading firms
-A series of corporate collapses in the wake of misleading schemes for reporting profits and losses
-Problems with dangerous toys being imported from China
Looking back on the problems and trends of recent years, it seems overwhelming clear that we are in dire need of more regulation and oversight to protect our common health , safety, and welfare. The deck is stacked against the average citizen and consumer, who must make difficult decisions in confusing environments, often in situations that are defined by corporate powers with virtually bottomless resources on their side. Yet no one seems to be articulating or advocating for this need. On the contrary, there are some political voices that still decry over-regulation as if these problems did not exist.
As the world we live in continues to become more complex, we need stronger intermediary institutions, and this should be a policy priority at all levels. And often, the regulatory role will best be served by government.
Some examples of the increasingly complex choices we face include the wide variety of financial decisions consumers are faced with, with regard to savings, borrowing, and mortgages; The environmental and social impacts of our lifestyle choices; Our choices with regard to philanthropic activities and their effectiveness; political choices and exercising political influence at the state, federal, and local levels; career development and educational choices; choices relating to the raising of children and managing a family; choices with regard to food consumption, cooking, and dining; choices with regard to physical health, medical treatment, and physical activity.
I know that I myself am overwhelmed by the breadth of my choices, though I am highly educated and informed relative to the general populus. How much more overwhelmed must so many others be, who may not have as many advantages in terms of education and access to information.
Therefore I find it very puzzling when politicians advocate for deregulation as a solution to our modern problems. We clearly need more regulation, and more information, and greater transparency throughout all these choice realms. Of course we do not need regulation for its own sake, but in order to protect people from harmful choices and lack of information. And all regulation need not come from the government - in some cases non-profit associations can play that role. But the general need for more regulation and more organizations that monitor, inform, modulate, and oversee is indisputable.
A recent look at the economic and policy challenges of past few years highlights this trend. Some recent economic crises include:
-The recent collapse of the housing market due to inadequately supervised mortgage lending practices and mis-understood financial instruments related to mortgages
-Spiking electricity prices in California due to the manipulation of markets by a few electricity trading firms
-A series of corporate collapses in the wake of misleading schemes for reporting profits and losses
-Problems with dangerous toys being imported from China
Looking back on the problems and trends of recent years, it seems overwhelming clear that we are in dire need of more regulation and oversight to protect our common health , safety, and welfare. The deck is stacked against the average citizen and consumer, who must make difficult decisions in confusing environments, often in situations that are defined by corporate powers with virtually bottomless resources on their side. Yet no one seems to be articulating or advocating for this need. On the contrary, there are some political voices that still decry over-regulation as if these problems did not exist.
As the world we live in continues to become more complex, we need stronger intermediary institutions, and this should be a policy priority at all levels. And often, the regulatory role will best be served by government.
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