> The alternative is the space being dominated by regulation.
This is a false dichotomy. Regulation can take many forms. It is an essential tool to reduce the probability and impact of market failures.
Using medical/health metaphors can help frame these discussions in less polarizing ways:
1. How do we balance prevention versus treatment? The key question is not if particular markets can struggle and fail in certain conditions. They do. More insightful questions are: (a) how should we mitigate the consequences and (b) what kinds of regulation are worth the cost?
2. What about public health? What happens when the patient won’t get vaccinated and contagion spreads? / We see this in computer security. Lax security by one can spillover to many. / Banks (and even financial systems), left to their own devices are not as resilient and fair as we would like.
Underlying this whole discussion is also “what timeframe are we optimizing for?” and “what exactly are we optimizing for? Economic efficiency? Equality? Something else? Some combination?”
This is a false dichotomy. Regulation can take many forms. It is an essential tool to reduce the probability and impact of market failures.
Using medical/health metaphors can help frame these discussions in less polarizing ways:
1. How do we balance prevention versus treatment? The key question is not if particular markets can struggle and fail in certain conditions. They do. More insightful questions are: (a) how should we mitigate the consequences and (b) what kinds of regulation are worth the cost?
2. What about public health? What happens when the patient won’t get vaccinated and contagion spreads? / We see this in computer security. Lax security by one can spillover to many. / Banks (and even financial systems), left to their own devices are not as resilient and fair as we would like.
Underlying this whole discussion is also “what timeframe are we optimizing for?” and “what exactly are we optimizing for? Economic efficiency? Equality? Something else? Some combination?”