Case in Point: Do Consumer Protection Laws Protect Consumers? Economist W Kip Viscusi of the Harvard Law School has long advocated economic approaches to health and safety regulations Economic approaches recognize 1) behavioral responses to technological regulations; 2) performance-oriented standards as opposed to commandand-control regulations; and 3) the opportunity cost of regulations Below are some examples of how these economic approaches would improve health and safety policy Behavioral responses: Consider the requirement, imposed in 1972, that aspirin containers have childproof caps That technological change seemed straightforward enough But, according to Mr Viscusi, the result has not been what regulators expected Mr Viscusi points out that childproof caps are more difficult to open They thus increase the cost of closing the containers properly An increase in the cost of any activity reduces the quantity demanded So, childproof caps result in fewer properly closed aspirin containers Mr Viscusi calls the response to childproof caps a “lulling effect.” Parents apparently think of containers as safer and are, as a result, less careful with them Aspirin containers, as well as other drugs with childproof caps, tend to be left open Mr Viscusi says that the tragic result is a dramatic increase in the number of children poisoned each year Hence, he urges government regulators to take behavioral responses into account when promulgating technological solutions He also advocates well-articulated hazard warnings that give consumers information on which to make their own choices Attributed to Libby Rittenberg and Timothy Tregarthen Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books/ Saylor.org 876