Thread

1. chasd00 · 1790595720 · focus · HN ↗

   I’ve never seen CEOs work so hard to make the public aware of how dangerous and out of control their flagship product is. It makes me automatically assume they’re scheming about something else like regulatory capture to protect their market.

   1. DennisP · 1790610363 · focus · HN ↗

      You'd think if this were just regulatory strategy, you'd see other instances of it. So for example, big tobacco would have bragged that cigarettes would kill you, and lobbied for complex safety regulations that only they could meet.

      Instead we see the opposite behavior almost everywhere, probably because public sentiment matters and complicated 5D chess strategies have too many ways to blow up in your face. So big tobacco said cigarettes are safe, and oil companies said climate change is fake.

      1. scarecrowbob · 1790611124 · focus · HN ↗

         There are quite a few modalities of regulatory capture in this world- they are complex mechanisms. So you're correct about wanting to find other instances of that kind of thing happening, but those instances do exist. So it feels reasonable to me to suspect a strategy of developing regulatory capture.

         Alcohol and cannibis producers enjoy regulatory moats from "sin" taxes, and I can't install a septic tank or get antibotics without someone who has a license.

         And I couldn't buy and AR in Colorado without a Federal Firearms Licensed dealer who used to bitch about regulations to high heaven while they sell me just the serialized receiver for a weapon I would have bought online without those regulations.

         Noting those instances doesn't mean I don't understand why they exist. I spend some time volunteering as a health care provider and am happy that people have some standards around that care even if those "moats" can't quite keep MAHA people from bufo-toxin-ing their unvaxed children.

         At the same time, it's important to understand that professional organizations creating "standards" are still industry-oriented organizations and are motivated by those interests regardless of how much folks complain about higher-levels of regulation.

         1. DennisP · 1790612601 · focus · HN ↗

            Sure, regulatory capture is everywhere. We just don't generally see cases of big companies attempting it by bragging that their entire industry is really dangerous. They have a strong tendency to do the exact opposite.

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