Quote Originally Posted by gismo View Post
Mr Troy, the example you gave, I have to ask, does that/would that actually happen? That kind of regulation is far too excessive. When it comes to electrical appliances, the only kind of regulation I approve of are eletrical safety tests to make sure it won't blow you up the first time you use it. Common sense would dictate such practices would exist in a self regulated market, again there is a question of trust, can they be trusted to do this themselves? I think that one is open for debate. I will say however that I do get piece of mind knowing that the manufacturers are required by law to do basic electrical safety tests.
I was using an unrealistic example to provide a clean slate on view. Often times if you use something that already is in play someone already has an opinion on it. Vacuum cleaner suction regulation does not exist, so I chose it so there would be no previous opinions on it.

UnreasonablyReasonable, I can see what you are saying about health-care product, but my problem is the market. I don't think if drug companies had to make their products safe, than most would not bother. We could be doing insane amounts of damage to our body with untested drugs because the drug company assures us it is "safe". Well, sure they are going to say it's safe. A car company sure isn't going to advertise that their car is unsafe, even if it hasn't been tested. What if NO ONE in the market does higher quality out of sheer competitiveness? If you make hot-dogs, and your 3 major competitors are using "questionable" manufacturing product and technique (that the public is unaware of) and they can make a hot dog that is almost as good as yours for 50% less, and therefore sell it for less while getting a higher profit margin percentage, are YOU going to use the highest quality meats and facilities and charge twice as much for a pack of hot-dogs? Your sales probably won't be able to stand, so likely you would mimic the low quality practice to stay competitive. I just can't see food and drug being self-regulated. I can tell if the lamp I am buying is of low quality and can make my purchase decision accordingly, I can't tell what's IN my food (bercause without regulation, the Nutrition Facts and Ingredients label would not need to exist, or be truthful).