Asking The Government To "Do Something" Is Not Scientific
What science is it that assures you that government officials will, in such situations, act impartially and for the public good rather than politically and for special-interest groups? What objective and established proof, or even plausible hypothesis, have you that the very same knowledge, free-rider, and transaction-cost problems that promote the negative externality to begin with do not also operate – or operate with even greater force – to distort decision-making by government officials? I believe that history and science reveal that the answer to both questions in typical situations is “none.”