Smart Policy and Smart Regulation: Why do we need it and how do we get there?
Barry M. Klein, Ph.D.
Vice Chancellor for Research
University of California, Davis
There will always be a tension between the general concept of ‘the public good’ versus ‘individual freedom’ in determining the efficacy of policy and regulation from either/or the state and federal governments.
An interesting case study is automobile safety, including safety items such as seat belts – others might be antilock brakes, collapsible steering wheels, and so on. Focusing on seat belts, two Wikipedia articles are worth looking at.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_legislation_in_the_United_States
Few would argue, but some might, that requiring automobile manufacturers to provide seat belts in all of their cars – a federal regulation circa 1969 – or the subsequent adaptation of mandatory seat belt usage by many states, was a good thing, saving many thousands of lives a year. Requiring seat belts in automobiles leveled the playing field and became an integral part of the cost of an automobile. This saved lives at a tolerable cost to vehicles, with costs of implementation dropping due to mass production. There are many other examples of mandated automobile safety devices that are now just part of what an automobile is in most of the world. And the costs have not bankrupted the automobile industry or individual companies – especially since regulation removed the competitive advantage option (not complying versus complying) from the equation.
On the other hand, few would argue for creating an automobile where it would be impossible, or nearly so, to have an injury resulting from an accident. That could raise the price of automobiles to the point of non-affordability. In other words, regulation, or smart regulation, has limits that require good judgment to bridge the gap between ‘smart’ and ‘dumb’ regulations, and involve several dimensions of social responsibility to consider.
This blog deals with the topic of “smart regulation,” how do we get there and how do we get it implanted in the (sometimes partisan) world that we live in? How do we move forward in fostering creativity and innovation within the constraints of a “smartly regulated” society?
Issues that come to mind are climate change, health care, internet security, ….