Comment on The Fed just ‘Trump-proofed’ itself with a unanimous move to preempt a potential leadership shake-up
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 1 week agoI agree, but also this is an iffy example because power grids are relatively regulated, albeit in a patchwork way.
Anyway, I’m pretty sure we’re doomed. Voters have repeatedly shown they will gratify immediate “feelings” over thinking in the longer term, and finally elected a regime that embodies that short term hype perfectly. And debt is a boring “long term” problem that doesn’t fit into a TikTok video.
TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Well, what’s your solution? I don’t think this is a terribly uncommon opinion, but I’m not exactly sure what the implication is. Eliminate all regulations? Eliminate government entirely, paving the way for an anarcho-capitalist utopia? I’m not sure I think it’s a good idea to eliminate all public oversight when it comes to something as important as our national power grid. Someone has to look out for the interests of the public and the nation, and I’m not sure private, for-profit interests can be counted on for that.
That being said, I am totally in support of regulatory reform. Unnecessary and inconsistent regulations introduce all sorts of inefficiencies and costs. But all the more reason, in my opinion, for the Federal government to standardize, unify, and simplify regulations as much as possible across the country. Of course, that would require capable leadership, and we are woefully deficient there.
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I don’t have one.
I’m a believer in “a la carte” regulation: some sectors should be wildly unrestricted. Some should be radically socialized. Some, in between. Some “hybridized.” The optimum thing just depends, and the key is finding experts to determine this and constantly testing that balance.
That makes me kind of technocratic, I guess.
For power infrastructure specifically, this seems like one of those “hybrid” situations? Power making startups should frictionlessly slot in; lest we miss experimental tech like, say, geothermal coal plant conversions. But at the same time, distribution and some larger projects really need government organization. And that’s kind of what we already have?
The problem seems to not be the amount of regulation, but the incentives. For instance, a lot of lobbying from Big Oil sneaks in. And there’s a lot of complacency with “good enough for now,” infrastructure, tying into the public’s lack of interest in solving long-term problems until they blow up in their face.