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A comment on 'All I wanted to do is build a house' (2010). Parent comment

Re:'All I wanted to do is build a house' (2010) by wyager on Sunday December 25, 2016 @07:28PM (#13256221)
The productivity costs of excessive regulation are also written in blood, but it's a slightly more abstract relationship, so most people aren't capable of making the connection.

"Oh my god, this building collapsed during an earthquake and killed a family! Alert the national press!"

Versus

"The expected per-capita cost of this new electrical wiring legislation over the next 50 years is $12/person/year, which according to our consumption models means that the average person will spend $2.50 fewer a year on health insurance, which will result in a 0.00003% higher annual medical casualty rate. Now, moving onto expected effects on nutrition..."

Even though the regulatory costs kill a lot more people, it's not as immediate or violent, so most people don't care.

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Re:'All I wanted to do is build a house' (2010) by dwaltrip on Sunday December 25, 2016 @09:13PM (#13256539)
Your point is a good one, although it not at all obvious or self-evident that the regulatory burden is more "costly" on society than that of poorly built structures. Your post doesn't provide any evidence of that. I would guess that the general consensus holds the opposite to be true, at least for building codes in the U.S. today. It is certainly a difficult question to analyze in any kind of numeric detail.
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