If a company does a good job for a good price, its fame will quickly spread.
So what happens when that company is bought out by new owners, starts skimping on product safety, and 1,000 people die before the market notices?
If 1,000 people die, is the company held liable by the government?
If people band together to enforce preventative measures in the community (even through private means), such that such a thing doesn't happen again, have they created a regulatory government?
> If 1,000 people die, is the company held liable by the government?
Intentional or negligent killing is prosecutable. I doubt, though, that not requiring bonding for a money-transfer startup will cause the deaths of 1000 people. As to businesses generally, tort lawyers as a class make a pretty good living holding businesses accountable. The Ford/Firestone controversy comes to mind. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_and_Ford_tire_controv...) In that controversy plaintiffs suing Firestone and Ford alleged that people died because tire failure caused rollover accidents in Ford Explorer SUVs. As a result, both Ford (maker of the vehicle with the defective tires) and Firestone (maker of the tires) had to pay a lot money and their stock price suffered. Also, one of Firestone's tire manufacturing plants was closed and Ford and Firestone no longer do business together. So there are consequences when private companies screw up.
On the other hand, when government screws up and thousands of lives are lost, like when it holds up the sale of a new drug, fails to defend the airspace against terrorist attacks, or goes to war on bad intelligence, there don't seem to be consequences.
I can always tell when a site has gone past the point of no return when comments like this are simply downvoted to oblivion. If you disagree state why.
but whatever, I always call these things. Internet communities refuse to be elitist about quality because they 1. believe in democracy and 2. are made up people who like to be inclusive because they were excluded as kids.
So what happens when that company is bought out by new owners, starts skimping on product safety, and 1,000 people die before the market notices?
If 1,000 people die, is the company held liable by the government?
If people band together to enforce preventative measures in the community (even through private means), such that such a thing doesn't happen again, have they created a regulatory government?