It’s hard to believe that consolidation is working as intended. Be sure to read Paul Stearns’ piece — Consolidation penalties are a shameful response — in the BDN.
In another context, some truths:
I wish I could say I found it surprising, but it seem to me to be of a piece with too many other brutalities in American law. We pass a law with the best of intentions, and find it doesn’t work, and so we pass new regulations and policies designed to crack down on non-compliance, until we are brutalizing the population all out of proportion to the original good we were pursuing. — The Majesty of the Law, Megan McArdle, Asymmetrical Information Blog (The Atlantic), 2/19/10
The reference is to the prohibition-era denaturing of alcohol. More here.
That Megan, she’s sharp!