[NeedMoreTea]

Radium, Heroin and other patent snake oil medicines were solved by innovation not regulation?

How did we innovate around lead in petrol or pipes? Or the health consequences of smoking? Adulteration of food?

CFCs?

Seems like appropriate use of regulation, punitive taxation and banning has a long history of working well, despite your economic dogma.

[syshum]

You believe the Heron problem has been solved by government regulations? Or there are not Snake Oil product today sold with the complete approval of the government? And I am not sure what regulations your referring to around Radium...

The others are more of the same, some of it is misappropriation to how much the government actually impacted things vs normal market pressures, the government has the habit of coming in after society has already starting phasing out a product or practice then "regulating" the last few companies that have not changed yet as the pressure of the market leaders, it is form or protectionism to put competition out of business.

But continue to believe the government work for you, and not Large Multi National corporations. All evidence speaks to the contrary...

[NeedMoreTea]

It has been solved in the sense of no longer being an OTC non addictive medicine suitable for baby. The war on drugs is an entirely unconnected issue.

No market pressures were affecting adulteration of food or tobacco until governments started acting. Post war the vast majority of adults smoked thanks to US marketing led campaigns to promote wider adoption, and their "torches of freedom" campaign to get adoption started among females. Nor was lead in any way declining, quite the contrary it was constantly increasing as car use spread. Asbestos was being used profligately until regulation came in. Thalidomide was outlawed in developed nations, yet those multi nationals quite happily sell it to the developing world, off script. There is no evidence for their being on the side of the public interest whatsoever, yet countless, endless examples of their working against, from disinformation campaigns on smoking, fire retardants, DDT, lead in fuel, Bhopal, enough to fill a book. Capitalism needs, absolutely needs constraining.

If governments today do not work for us, as they did in the fifties, sixties and seventies, it is because they have been mainly captured by the cult of neoliberalism and small laissez-faire hands of governance, and the libertarian think tanks and lobbyists, such that even the "left" is right leaning...