Regulations, government referees and the free market

Dear Readers, Government regulation is a political football. Modern Conservatives argue that regulations are job-killers, especially in a limping economy, and that the free market takes care of inefficiencies.

Progressives argue that government is a necessary referee in the free market, making sure that all businesses play fairly and obey basic public safety rules.

The idea of using “regulation” to ameliorate the sharp edges of capitalism is a relatively new concept. For example, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), one of our oldest federal agencies, did not formally come into existence until Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal Era (along with many other major agencies) – although, the idea of an FDA dates back to 1906’s “Pure Food and Drugs Act.”

Unfortunately, Congress (and the President, for that matter) have come to rely so much on Federal agencies to implement laws, the reality of a law (after regulations are thrown in) can be very different from what Congress intended.

That’s a “problem” for Progressives. The “problem” for Conservatives is that, when something goes wrong, it is usually a “big wrong” (like, maybe, the banking scandal that wrecked our economy). Meaning that the need for regulation looks obvious in the face of disaster.

The latest “big wrong” to come to light is flame retardants found in children’s furniture. You can read about just how big this problem is in a study just published by the Center for Environmental Health, called “Playing on Poisons: Children’s Furniture Found with Harmful Flame Retardant Chemicals.” The science behind this study is beyond frightening. Children’s furniture was purchased from all the major retailers, from Walmart to Toys R Us/Babies R Us, and tested for toxicity … such as Mickey and Minnie beds and chairs that are directly marketed to children.

To quote the report, these chemicals have:

… harmful impacts on our bodies’ natural hormones.

Other chemicals found in the products include a flame retardant known to cause cancer and chemicals linked to infertility, genetic damage, and developmental health problems. Children are more highly exposed to flame retardants and are more vulnerable to these health hazards than adults.

There are several ways these chemicals threaten our children. The obvious is children like to lick their fingers and put things in their mouths – thus, ingesting these toxic chemicals. Another problem is when the chemicals become airborne and are sucked into young lungs. Finally, these chemicals end up on the floor and, once again, are prime hunting grounds for crawling toddlers.

That’s only half the story. The other half is that these retardants don’t even work. Essentially, the retardants in the foam used gets overwhelmed in real-world scenarios. When outside fabric is ignited, it burns too hot for the retardant to provide any measurable protection.

Fire retardants in foam padding meet a standard set by the State of California … in 1975. This requires them to work for 12 seconds under a “small open flame for 12 seconds.” California is correcting this outdated rule, starting this January although, retardants will not be banned outright in children’s products.

A leading business trade organization (Business and Institutional Manufacturers Association) has signaled even more change is coming, in the form of voluntary removal of toxic retardants from children’s furniture.

On the other hand, sometimes regulation is not always smart. At Princeton University, there is a bacterial meningitis outbreak. For this specific strain, there are no vaccines currently available in the United States. Judging this a health emergency, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) asked the FDA for permission to vaccinate students and personnel with a vaccine approved in Europe, but not here.

Nevertheless, these two agencies worked together and came up with a plan that permitted the use of this vaccine, just at Princeton, to try and prevent a health problem exploding into a full-blown epidemic. The FDA relaxed its rules, at the behest of the CDC, and Princeton is being inoculated against a nasty disease, hopefully, saving lives.

There you have it. A need for regulation juxtaposed with a situation calling for relaxing regulations. Maybe, then, the simple answer is that what we need is not no regulation at all, but only smart regulation.

Local attorney Jim Rockefeller owns the Rockefeller Law Center and is a former Houston Co. Chief Assistant District Attorney, and a former Miami Prosecutor. Visit www.rockefellerlawcenter.com to submit confidential legal questions, and to review former articles and Frequently Asked Questions.

HHJ News