The high cost of low regulations

Corporation after corporation calls for less regulation, but can we trust them to regulate themselves as to consumer and employee safety?  The answer is over century old: "No!"

Think of all the mine disasters because production was more important than worker safety.  Think of the "Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire" over one hundred years ago.  Think of all the auto and food recalls.  Think of the shortcuts that led to the latest BP oil spill

Now the latest is the Bangladesh factory collapse, a collapse a day after police ordered it evacuated: "Western Firms Feel Pressure as Toll Rises in Bangladesh", Julfikar Ali Manik, Steven Greenhouse, and Jim Yardley, New York Times, 2013-04-25.

And there was a deadly fire in a garment factory in Bangladesh in November 2012.  Almost any story you find will have links to other factory disasters in Bangladesh.

All because we in the West look for low prices and corporation after corporation looks for the lowest price manufacturers.  Maybe it's time we double-check what we buy and look for the lowest price executives.

Titanic and BP

We watched the DiCaprio/Winslet "Titanic" last night.  We haven't learned much since the Titanic about the hubris of relying on our technology to handle all contingencies.