4 ms·

I really hope something this trivial doesn't merit the time of Congress. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if it did.

tomjen3 16y ago
Trivial? It might seem so, but it does actually fall well within the area the founders gave congress (surely this is both weights and measurements and interstate commerce). "Fixing" the standard size would be fraud, as they don't sell the actual product that they claim to sell.
- dantheman 16y ago
  Would you mandate your system or sizing? What if they just changed their form of measurement? Or they said recommended size? Is this a problem you are constantly facing? I don't have any difficulty buying pants - why do we need a law?
  - tomjen3 16y ago
    All I would mandate would be that pants labeled 10 inches would be ten inches. You want to sell Venti pants - go ahead.
  - jodrellblank 16y ago
    Why don't we revoke all other laws which do not affect you while we're at it?
joshuacc 16y ago
State legislatures would also be an option.
- mkramlich 16y ago
  the more state-specific/state-varying laws that exist the more of a pain-in-the-ass it becomes for businesses to operate across multiple states and especially across the entire nation
  - jellicle 16y ago
    Good thing someone invented the Uniform Commercial Code to solve this problem, then. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Commercial_Code http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Commercial_Code
Splines 16y ago
Seems to me that "fixing" sizes would put pressure on people to lose weight, in the similar way that publishing calories on menus does.
pierrefar 16y ago
Hardly trivial when waist circumference is a predictor of heart disease. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/risk.htm http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt... http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20050414/waist-size-predicts-heart-disease-danger http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20050414/waist-size-...
gojomo 16y ago
How about this: there's no legal requirement you label your products in any given unit, but if you choose 'inches', they have to be real 'inches'. You can use your own made-up unit, say 'oldnavies', instead -- just don't call them 'inches'. (Even minarchists usually find laws -- common-law or legislative -- against commercial fraud acceptable.)
- joshfinnie 16y ago
  I thought there were bodies of government[1] out there that specialize is certifying companies who use 'inches' and want to mean inches. If you are not certified, I don't think there is a guarantee that what they say is 100% accurate. [1] http://www.iso.org http://www.iso.org

tomjen3 16y ago

Trivial? It might seem so, but it does actually fall well within the area the founders gave congress (surely this is both weights and measurements and interstate commerce). "Fixing" the standard size would be fraud, as they don't sell the actual product that they claim to sell.

dantheman 16y ago
Would you mandate your system or sizing? What if they just changed their form of measurement? Or they said recommended size? Is this a problem you are constantly facing? I don't have any difficulty buying pants - why do we need a law?
- tomjen3 16y ago
  All I would mandate would be that pants labeled 10 inches would be ten inches. You want to sell Venti pants - go ahead.
- jodrellblank 16y ago
  Why don't we revoke all other laws which do not affect you while we're at it?

joshuacc 16y ago

State legislatures would also be an option.

mkramlich 16y ago
the more state-specific/state-varying laws that exist the more of a pain-in-the-ass it becomes for businesses to operate across multiple states and especially across the entire nation
- jellicle 16y ago
  Good thing someone invented the Uniform Commercial Code to solve this problem, then. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Commercial_Code http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Commercial_Code

Splines 16y ago

Seems to me that "fixing" sizes would put pressure on people to lose weight, in the similar way that publishing calories on menus does.

pierrefar 16y ago

Hardly trivial when waist circumference is a predictor of heart disease. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/risk.htm http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt... http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20050414/waist-size-predicts-heart-disease-danger http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20050414/waist-size-...

gojomo 16y ago

How about this: there's no legal requirement you label your products in any given unit, but if you choose 'inches', they have to be real 'inches'. You can use your own made-up unit, say 'oldnavies', instead -- just don't call them 'inches'. (Even minarchists usually find laws -- common-law or legislative -- against commercial fraud acceptable.)

joshfinnie 16y ago
I thought there were bodies of government[1] out there that specialize is certifying companies who use 'inches' and want to mean inches. If you are not certified, I don't think there is a guarantee that what they say is 100% accurate. [1] http://www.iso.org http://www.iso.org