Today on Chinese toys and free trade. Yes, she talked this one through with me, and it's nice to be able to agree with one's spouse on economics. (We're still yapping about the train piece.) I was floored by the things she showed me about Amy Klobuchar's push to regulate every damn toy that comes from China.

Menzie Chinn argues this week that the Bush administration's "dismantling" of the regulatory agencies has left us susceptible to more protectionist impulses. That's not a bad point, but regulation is not likely, in my view to make our toys any safer. Chinn's argument implies that the American public cannot understand how the market has incentives to protect them that are stonger than the government's incentives; I say the public is smarter than that. And it's nice that Mrs. S agrees.

Labels: economics, Mrs. S