Without minimum government environmental standards, the least ethical corporation can drive other ethical corporations out of business, if they don t also cut their costs for environmental protection. So, environmental standards protect not only the environment, but also protect moral business persons who want to respect the environment. The same is true of other industries. Same for the chicken processor who cuts costs for sanitation the drug company that falsely advertises a medicine the securities dealer who takes ruthless advantage of na ve investors, and on and on. Liberals believe that government should take actions to protect the integrity of the free market from unscrupulous predators not only for the benefit of consumers, but for responsible business competitors as well.
Crime prevention is another example.
Liberals, as well as the chiefs of the largest 50 cities in the US, feel that it is more cost effective as well as more humane to spend money to prevent crime, through education, community activities, and so on, than to let crime occur and then throw people in jail. Sure enough, we got strong economic growth, but at tremendous cost and almost unsolvable future problems. The stock market exploded, but, as predicted, workers wages stagnated, many communities were destroyed, and we now have biggest income and wealth disparity since the depression. The long-term ill effects of conservative economics are just beginning to be felt. Just as they did in the '20s, modern conservatives have given us the boom of the 80s and 90s and the upcoming bust that will start off our new millennium.