Setting a Regulatory Budget
14th December 2010
Megan McArdle is always worth reading.
Take the Endangered Species Act, which is supposed to protect species on private land. But of course, if you find an endangered species, the thing to do is get rid of its habitat right away, because if anyone else finds your endangered species, you my substantially lose the use of your land. If the government were paying for endangered species, on the other hand, people would be searching assiduously for snail darters and spotted owls.
If we only want things when we can stick other people with the bill, then we probably shouldn’t have most of those things.