Quote Originally Posted by Alexander the Pretty Good
The consumer, acting on his own, won't buy many asbestos hot dogs.
But consumers acting on their own will buy billions of cigarettes every year, which are just about as palatable and certainly as carcinogenic as asbestos hot dogs. This fact pokes a bit of a hole in the theory that consumers will always act rationally and in their own best interests.

So while I agree in principal that markets are best off with as little government interference as possible, I do believe that there are certain minimum levels of regulation that are required. Mainly because people are idiots and do need some protection both from themselves and from the greed of those willing totake advantage of their idiocy.