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> for bad things that actually happened is just astounding.

you are not kidding.

"You mean we have to monitor for this because someone ACTUALLY tried doing that before...?"

Sure, bad things happen. But there's a trade-off between regulatory burden and economic vibrancy and adaptability. We all know that taxi regulations sort of existed because a lot of tourists would get taken advantage of. But then, the taxi companies and politicians exploited it to promote local monopolies and enforced it with limited edition, expensive taxi medallions that prevented people from starting up legitimate cab companies to compete with the incumbents.

That sort of thing happens all the time and that opportunity cost is not often talked about.

Agreed. Though it's tough to square the fact that bad things happen sometimes with desire to do something. The Onion actually had a good video on this a few years ago:

https://politics.theonion.com/truck-accident-that-killed-raf...

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