Authors libby rittenberg 872

Those who demand, and are willing to pay the price for, high-quality, safe, warranted products can so But some argue that people who demand and prefer to pay (presumably) lower prices for lower-quality products that may have risks associated with their use should also be allowed to exercise this preference By increasing the costs of goods, consumer protection laws may adversely affect the poor, who are forced to purchase higher-quality products; the rich would presumably buy higher-quality products in the first place To assess whether a particular piece of consumer protection is desirable requires a careful look at how it stacks up against the marginal decision rule The approach of economists is to attempt to determine how the costs of a particular regulation compare to its benefits Economists W Mark Crain and Thomas D Hopkins estimated the cost of consumer protection regulation in 2001 and found that the total cost was $843 billion, or $7,700 per household in the United States [3] Deregulating the Economy Concern that regulation might sometimes fail to serve the public interest prompted a push to deregulate some industries, beginning in the late 1970s In 1978, for example, Congress passed the Airline Deregulation Act, which removed many of the regulations that had prevented competition in the airline industry Safety regulations were not affected The results of deregulation included a substantial reduction in airfares, the merger and consolidation of airlines, and the emergence of frequent flier plans and other marketing schemes designed to increase passenger miles Not all the consequences of deregulation were applauded, however Many airlines, Attributed to Libby Rittenberg and Timothy Tregarthen Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books/ Saylor.org 872