Regulation - Assessment

1. Does the US Food and Drug Administration successfully regulate business? For two positions, see the Center for Food Safety at www.foodsafetynow.org and the Cato Institute, a group that advocates policies based on limited government, at www.ncpa.org/pd/regulat/pd042500f.html. What is the strongest argument? The weakest argument?

2. Log on to www.fda.gov, and find two product categories that the FDA regulates that you believe should not be regulated. What are the reasons given by the FDA for regulating these products? What impact does this regulation have on a firm's cost of production? On consumer prices?

3. Log on to csab.wustl.edu/atissue.html. What does the Weidenbaum Center conclude about the regulation on children's environmental health?

4. Log on to www.fcc.gov/dtv, and find the Review of the Federal Communications Commission's rules and policies affecting the conversion to digital television. What are the benefits of this regulation for the nation? Are the benefits worth the costs?