While the debate roars on for big ticket items like healthcare and more troops in Afghanistan, the Obama Administration is quietly taking control of more than 15,000 everyday items such as: pistachios, beads in clothing, 4-wheelers, keyboards, aquariums, wheelbarrows, and Cheerios. There is a basic belief that consumers need the government to protect them from everything. I’m not sure how I survive using so many non-ergonomic keyboards and eat all those bowls of Honey Nut Cheerios for dinner. All these new regulations are coming at a time when our economy is already struggling and it simply makes it even harder for businesses to survive.
My first job as a consultant (May 2000) was in downtown DC at the FCC. While there I became friends with someone working in the wireless division. One day at lunch I asked him how the FCC came up with the cell phone radiation standards which were a big deal at the time due to the rumors of brain tumors. He simply told me the FCC would get specifications from the major cell phone companies and essentially rubberstamp them as the regulations because they really had no way of knowing what they should really be. So how was the consumer protected by being lulled into a false sense of security in addition to making it more difficult for smaller more agile cell phone manufacturers to make better phones?
In the long run, consumers are better off with more producers in the market so the competition not only leads to lower prices but to better quality. General Mills simply won’t be in business long selling stale Cheerios unless they get a bailout. The well-intentioned regulations reduce the number of companies vying for our business and in turn make them less respondent to our needs. Consumers must play a role as well by reading reviews and educating themselves about the items they buy. In the end, the most effective person protecting you and your family is you.
