Peter Thiel apparently has argued for that too. But [the Nobel laureate in economics] George Stigler argued a long time ago that one of the worst things about regulation is that it gets captured by the people who are being regulated. My guess is that the FDA is acting pretty much in the interests of the pharmaceutical companies, not the other way around. Or at least that this is an equilibrium that they’re very happy about.

Love this. Agree with it a lot. Who eventually finds themselves in charge of the regulators? The people with the most expertise in how the regulation works, the people who matter within that system, and the companies who are largely regulated. That's going to consistently breed a new generation of former lobbyists, then regulators, who return to lobbying post-government 'service' now with even better connections and a bit of power.

It's one of the major arguments for Libertarianism. I acknowledge that it is entirely possible for the government to do good, but find the risk that they will be inefficient and self-serving in the long-term too great to make that decision. Unfortunately this allows us to be demonized for 'not wanting to help the poor or less fortunate.' Not true. I do want to help them, and think that the federal government has a role in that which involves much less control of money and programs.