News Summary

• The Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906 was hailed as a victory for consumer safety.
• But was it truly about protecting the public from deadly adulterants?
• Or was it a classic case of dirty politics, where special interests use government power to disadvantage competitors?
• Daniel Smith and Macy Scheck say the historical evidence leans heavily toward the explanation offered by public choice theory.
• The lesson?
• Regulations are rarely the product of altruism of pure product incumbents like distillers and bootleggers.