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The EU's love of banning things is lazy policy-making. It's better to disincentivize and let markets take care of it. That way you preserve freedom while also e

The EU's love of banning things is lazy policy-making. It's better to disincentivize and let markets take care of it. That way you preserve freedom while also encouraging desirable outcomes. Further reading: "Nudge" by Richard Thaler.

frankjr 2y ago
I agree with the laziness but Switzerland is not in the EU so not really relevant.
Ylpertnodi 2y ago
Poster above you (in my hnreader) points out Seattle is pretty ad free, so maybe its not just a Swiss (noted as 'not in EU') thing. If 'lazy policy-making' improves quality of life, why would you be so against it? Especially in Switzerland, where voting isn't so much about screaming headlines, but more about maintaining/ improving said qol.
secretsatan 2y ago
Not EU, and a direct democracy
panick21_ 2y ago
Switzerland isn't in the EU. And no, banning things isn't 'lazy', its 'committed'. Markets are often the right solution, but in many case its not about manipulating marginal prices, its about making a clear statement. Our towns will be better, our collective living standard will go up without ads. There is not clear way how we can get a market to arbitrate this. > "Nudge" by Richard Thaler. That book is way, way over-rated and also just completely wrong and informed at times. Even the best example of 'Nudge' about opt-out organ donor barley hold up in the real world. This podcast about the book is pretty good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjArvN9cfgE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjArvN9cfgE There is a Part 2 that goes into 'Nudge' being used by governments around the world. You can find the show-notes with lots of sources they used here: https://old.reddit.com/r/IfBooksCouldKill/comments/137g83j/if_books_could_kill_episode_nudge_part_1_a_simple/ https://old.reddit.com/r/IfBooksCouldKill/comments/137g83j/i...
sensanaty 2y ago
Yeah we should definitely let amoral and psychologically manipulative business practices be handled by the magical market! After all, it's worked so great so far in all the places without a billboard/advertising ban where you definitely don't see an ad on every single public surface where an eyeball might eventually land. Let's also let companies dump toxic waste into our drinking water, the "market" will surely make sure to reward only the good, clean companies.
mft_ 2y ago
This was the result of Swiss direct democracy within the small town in question - essentially, an idea from citizens, voted on by citizens within the relevant area. So actually more "free" than most countries can even imagine.
- zamadatix 2y ago
  Not that I agree with GP but there is a lot more to freedom than "the decision was made by a vote". "Freely chosen policy" is not inherently the same as "free policy", it's just (often) a good ingredient. Of course there are plenty of countries which can't seem to get any aspect of freedom down so your comparison still holds true regardless.

frankjr 2y ago

I agree with the laziness but Switzerland is not in the EU so not really relevant.

Ylpertnodi 2y ago

Poster above you (in my hnreader) points out Seattle is pretty ad free, so maybe its not just a Swiss (noted as 'not in EU') thing. If 'lazy policy-making' improves quality of life, why would you be so against it? Especially in Switzerland, where voting isn't so much about screaming headlines, but more about maintaining/ improving said qol.

secretsatan 2y ago

Not EU, and a direct democracy

panick21_ 2y ago

Switzerland isn't in the EU. And no, banning things isn't 'lazy', its 'committed'. Markets are often the right solution, but in many case its not about manipulating marginal prices, its about making a clear statement. Our towns will be better, our collective living standard will go up without ads. There is not clear way how we can get a market to arbitrate this. > "Nudge" by Richard Thaler. That book is way, way over-rated and also just completely wrong and informed at times. Even the best example of 'Nudge' about opt-out organ donor barley hold up in the real world. This podcast about the book is pretty good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjArvN9cfgE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjArvN9cfgE There is a Part 2 that goes into 'Nudge' being used by governments around the world. You can find the show-notes with lots of sources they used here: https://old.reddit.com/r/IfBooksCouldKill/comments/137g83j/if_books_could_kill_episode_nudge_part_1_a_simple/ https://old.reddit.com/r/IfBooksCouldKill/comments/137g83j/i...

sensanaty 2y ago

Yeah we should definitely let amoral and psychologically manipulative business practices be handled by the magical market! After all, it's worked so great so far in all the places without a billboard/advertising ban where you definitely don't see an ad on every single public surface where an eyeball might eventually land. Let's also let companies dump toxic waste into our drinking water, the "market" will surely make sure to reward only the good, clean companies.

mft_ 2y ago

This was the result of Swiss direct democracy within the small town in question - essentially, an idea from citizens, voted on by citizens within the relevant area. So actually more "free" than most countries can even imagine.

zamadatix 2y ago
Not that I agree with GP but there is a lot more to freedom than "the decision was made by a vote". "Freely chosen policy" is not inherently the same as "free policy", it's just (often) a good ingredient. Of course there are plenty of countries which can't seem to get any aspect of freedom down so your comparison still holds true regardless.