Do rules remove our instinctive motivation to behave in a humane and civil manner? Would we be better off if we did away with all the rules, including traffic signs and regulations governing stock markets?

The town of Drachten in the Netherlands has 45,000 inhabitants and a lot fewer rules of the road. A Spiegel Online article “Europeans do away with traffic signs” highlights the incredible success of transportation anarchy.

“[C]ars have already been driving over red natural stone for years [with no road markings]. Cyclists dutifully raise their arm when they want to make a turn, and drivers communicate by hand signs, nods and waving. “More than half of our signs have already been scrapped,” says traffic planner Koop Kerkstra. “Only two out of our original 18 traffic light crossings are left, and we’ve converted them to roundabouts.” Now traffic is regulated by only two rules in Drachten: “Yield to the right” and “Get in someone’s way and you’ll be towed.”

Strange as it may seem, the number of accidents has declined dramatically. Experts from Argentina and the United States have visited Drachten. Even London has expressed an interest in this new example of automobile anarchy. And the model is being tested in the British capital’s Kensington neighborhood.”

It’s catching on. Several European Union towns and smaller cities ranging in population from about 1,000 to 45,000 are getting rid of traffic signs, stop lights, and in one small village, even the lines and structures that separate cars and pedestrians. Ejby, in Denmark, is participating in the experiment, as are Ipswich in England and the Belgian town of Ostende.”

Driving with no signs means that drivers have to be more attuned to what every one else is doing and generally be more co-operative in sharing the road. (more…)

This appears to be a first. Berkeley City Council is about to amend its hazardous materials law to compel researchers and manufacturers to report what nanotechnology materials they are working with and how they are handling the tiny particles.

The issue of establishing regulations to monitor the activities of startups and small business in Berkeley had a preliminary introduction at Council on December 5th. The Berkeley Council gave their unanimous support at this meeting. You can read more about this in a report from PhysOrg.com.

The article Principles work better than rules by Neil Reynolds presents the convincing argument that attempting to solve an ethics problem in business by implementing rules is a wrong-headed approach.

A rules-focused approach lays a heavy burden on the ethical players. It diverts the resources of the regulated business to non-productive report writing. It diverts regulatory resources to non-productive reviewing of reports. (more…)

reprinted with permission
NEIL REYNOLDS

OTTAWA — Once you decide that 10 Commandments aren’t enough, where do you stop? You don’t. In excruciating detail, you legislate more and more. You pile rules on rules, 100,000 Commandments, and they’re not enough. You still have criminal conduct. So, you must prosecute and punish everyone.

In its 2005 annual report, FedEx observed that it needed 1,200 staff members, working 100,000 hours, to meet the requirements of a single section of a single law — in this instance, the famous Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It’s merely one regulatory requirement among thousands imposed by the U.S. government on public corporations. Like most of the rest, it’s unnecessary.

Section 404 requires that chief executive officers list the methods they use to keep their financial officers from stealing shareholder assets and falsifying records to hide the crimes — and then find accountants and lawyers to swear that the list is accurate. (Make sure you name the people who have keys to the executive washrooms.) It’s not obvious why the Eighth Commandment and Ninth Commandments aren’t enough. Alas, for some reason, they are not.

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