> Nobody does this, not even the most outspoken anarchist libertarian.

Listen to any debate aired in the press about regulation and it almost invariably degenerates into "more vs. less". This is consistent with U.S. political discourse in general, which turns major issues into single-axis ones. It's the nature of politics these days: for vs. against, more vs. less, left vs. right. Somehow everybody unquestioningly gets locked into this broken, simplistic framing of inherently complex issues.

Sure there are some words thrown in to make the argument sound more complex, like "too much burdensome regulation" but usually the remedy being suggested is to "cut regulation", not asking how we do smarter regulation, what the enforcement situation looks like, and what systems we put in place for periodic re-assessments of the regulations. Nor to suggest that at the end of the day, if we don't have good people in these regulatory organizations, no amount of process can make up for that.

> If anything, the Government regulation makes the situation worse, because by its nature has incentive structures that are completely inadequate. ... I would say the FAA is doing more harm than good, by lulling the public into a false sense of security.

The tremendous track record established through the regulatory efforts of the FAA is starkly opposing evidence against this line of argument. Everyone who flies commercially around the world should, while disappointed in their failings, be happy at the overall magnitude of public benefit the FAA has ensured. Every time I get on a commercial flight I'm amazed at how we operate these incredibly complex machines with the kind of safety and reliability we enjoy. But it's no happy accident or dumb luck.

The thing I don't like about just blindly labeling all government as inefficient bureaucrats is that if you actually spend time on the inside, you realize there truly are a lot of people that care and want to do the right thing. There are some truly sharp, talented, well-motivated people who take their responsibility to the public extraordinarily seriously.

> I would argue that regulation should be done by those who stand the most to lose. This is not corruptible Government officials but by insurance companies, airliners, pilots and passengers, i.e. by those who have skin in the game.

The people that have the most to lose are the citizenry. The Government works on their behalf on most matters of safety. And for the most part in democratic nations with low levels of corruption, this system generally works well. In the current construct, money and a "getting in bed with the regulated is good for the people" mentality among politicians are the corrosive factors. Do you really think that some kind of joint body comprised of pilot and insurance companies is somehow less inherently corruptible by money and its own sphere of politics? I'd argue there would be even less sunlight to expose conflicts of interest.

The radical reform we need in the U.S. is to contend with politicians working for the interests of those other than the citizenry, including the misguided idea that when there is tension between industrial economic interests and the public interest, that they should by default favor or err on the side of industrial economic interests. Channeling Upton Sinclair, this will probably not change until the nation finds ways to further mitigate the effects of money on politicians. The well-meaning mid-level career civil servant cannot work on behalf of the people if he is being undercut by the political appointees at the top.