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The counterargument is that this fails to address areas where one municipality's decisions impact another municipality. For example, suppose each township has

The counterargument is that this fails to address areas where one municipality's decisions impact another municipality. For example, suppose each township has a different order and coloring of traffic lights. This would cause car crashes wherever incompatible road networks meet. Or, suppose each township has its own electric grid, complete with different voltages and AC frequency. This would mean that equipment and training wouldn't translate to the next township over, prolonging any power outages. (See for example, the multitude of voltage standards in Japan.) Overall, I would say that for any given problem, it should be handled at whichever level results in the fewest coordination/externality problems, with ties being broken in favor of more granular control.

imgabe 6y ago
The electric grid is going to be determined by what the power company provides. Industry has plenty of incentive to standardize that and they mostly do. Every municipality (well, at least state, but usually county and sometimes city) does have the option to develop and enforce its own electric code. For the most part they've converged on a standard National Electric Code developed by an industry consortium, without any Federal requirements.
- pm90 6y ago
  > The electric grid is going to be determined by what the power company provides. Industry has plenty of incentive to standardize that and they mostly do. This has almost never happened without the threat (implicit or explicit) of regulation. The only time large corporations willingly standardize is when they have control over the entire market, and standards are a tool of cost cutting more than as a means of enabling cooperation with other companies.
  - imgabe 6y ago
    NEMA, ANSI, IEC, ASTM, ASHRAE, I could go on and on. There tons and tons of standards independently developed by industry associations. Many of them later get adopted into law by various government, but the government is not forcing these to exist.
bilbo0s 6y ago
Overall, I would say that for any given problem, it should be handled at whichever level results in the fewest coordination/externality problems This just makes too much sense for either the "More Local!!!" crowd or the "More Federal!!!" crowd to ever get behind. None of them ever want to concede the common sense fact that most of the time, "It depends." Should we have more federal control? It depends. Should we have more local control? It depends. Control of what? Are there coordination issues? Is anyone's human rights trampled? What are the externalities? Can local governments other than SF and NYC actually afford the infrastructure and resources required to control whatever it is we're talking about? Can states other than Cali, Texas, and NY afford it? On and on. These are not simplistic issues.
- loopz 6y ago
  It's also very backward in practice. National governments love demands on municipal and local level, but the funds don't follow. So alot of it ends up in nice talks, but bad implementations where local level try to push back at lack of funding.

imgabe 6y ago

The electric grid is going to be determined by what the power company provides. Industry has plenty of incentive to standardize that and they mostly do. Every municipality (well, at least state, but usually county and sometimes city) does have the option to develop and enforce its own electric code. For the most part they've converged on a standard National Electric Code developed by an industry consortium, without any Federal requirements.

pm90 6y ago
> The electric grid is going to be determined by what the power company provides. Industry has plenty of incentive to standardize that and they mostly do. This has almost never happened without the threat (implicit or explicit) of regulation. The only time large corporations willingly standardize is when they have control over the entire market, and standards are a tool of cost cutting more than as a means of enabling cooperation with other companies.
- imgabe 6y ago
  NEMA, ANSI, IEC, ASTM, ASHRAE, I could go on and on. There tons and tons of standards independently developed by industry associations. Many of them later get adopted into law by various government, but the government is not forcing these to exist.

bilbo0s 6y ago

Overall, I would say that for any given problem, it should be handled at whichever level results in the fewest coordination/externality problems This just makes too much sense for either the "More Local!!!" crowd or the "More Federal!!!" crowd to ever get behind. None of them ever want to concede the common sense fact that most of the time, "It depends." Should we have more federal control? It depends. Should we have more local control? It depends. Control of what? Are there coordination issues? Is anyone's human rights trampled? What are the externalities? Can local governments other than SF and NYC actually afford the infrastructure and resources required to control whatever it is we're talking about? Can states other than Cali, Texas, and NY afford it? On and on. These are not simplistic issues.

loopz 6y ago
It's also very backward in practice. National governments love demands on municipal and local level, but the funds don't follow. So alot of it ends up in nice talks, but bad implementations where local level try to push back at lack of funding.