Don’t let the facts stand in the way of a good argument
Paul Krugman present a very appealing case against those who call for deregulations:
Lately, however, there always seems to be at least one food-safety crisis in the headlines — tainted spinach, poisonous peanut butter and, currently, the attack of the killer tomatoes. The declining credibility of U.S. food regulation has even led to a foreign-policy crisis: there have been mass demonstrations in South Korea protesting the pro-American prime minister’s decision to allow imports of U.S. beef, banned after mad cow disease was detected in 2003.
How did America find itself back in The Jungle?
It started with ideology. Hard-core American conservatives have long idealized the Gilded Age, regarding everything that followed — not just the New Deal, but even the Progressive Era — as a great diversion from the true path of capitalism.
Or in simple words - Free Market Economy is damaging force on civilized modern societies and it can cause increase in deaths because of lack in government oversight that will leave the field for greedy corporations. This would be a great argument if only it had any base in actual facts, but why bother?
Tags: FDA, Food Regulations, Regulations, The Free MarketWhat we see is a lot of variability from year to year but a net downward trend. You can also look at cases per year which are more variable but also show a net downward trend. No evidence whatsoever that we are back “in The Jungle.”
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