In your opinion, what are the biggest pros and cons of government regulation?
The role of government should be in the interest of the people, the majority, yet regulations being passed today are limiting the people and helping the wealthy/ corporations. The cons seen towards regulations tie in closely with political corruption or favoritism towards companies and industries. In 2015, Governor Mary Fallin regulated cities against the bans on fracking, SB809 ensured the cities can not regulate drilling of any kind despite numerous cities voting to suspend fracking occurring around them. This bill caused numerous issues as within Oklahoma we saw a steady rise in earthquakes that was related to the underground wastewater disposal that comes with oil drilling and fracking. The effects of the regulations swerve obvious, Oklahoma citizens experienced numerous earthquakes, while oil companies were able to continue with little regulation.
When used to benefit society regulation can be very useful. I believe that given the chance, companies will always choose a profit over the well-being of their customers. An excellent example of this would be the tobacco industry. The tobacco industry had been notorious for marketing their products to minors prior to the 1990s to children as young as 10. Luckily the Synar Act was passed by Oklahoma Congressman Mike Synar in 1992 which enforced states to prohibit the selling of tobacco to minors. This regulation has saved countless lives and made the tobacco industry take responsibility for its actions, as it also opened the door for lawsuits by those affected by the tobacco industry. I see this as an obvious pro of government regulation at the federal level.
I find that the pros and cons of government regulation depend on whether or not the intention is to help the American people. The negative association with regulation is due to our corrupt politicians who rather than help society decide to impose regulations that help corporations.
Bill Sources:
https://stateimpact.npr.org/oklahoma/2015/06/01/gov-fallin-signs-bill-to-prevent-towns-cities-and-counties-from-banning-fracking/
https://www.samhsa.gov/synar/about-synar