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"In a recent article, Professor Brian D. Galle of the Georgetown University Law Center argues that "ex post regulation"-which imposes liability only after a harm occurs-has even more significant disadvantages than previously thought. Since managers at regulated firms have a tendency to discount long-term regulatory consequences, Galle favors "ex ante regulation"-or imposing costs before an actor harms another-as the more efficient way of regulating."

"Twenty-first century imperialism has changed its form. In the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, it was explicitly related to colonial control; in the second half of the 20th century it relied on a combination of geopolitical and economic control deriving also from the clear dominance of the United States as the global hegemon and leader of the capitalist world dealing with the potential threat from the Communist world. It now relies more and more on an international legal and regulatory architecture-fortified by various multilateral and bilateral agreements-to establish the power of capital over labor. This has involved a "grand bargain," no less potent for being implicit, between different segments of capital. Capitalist firms in the developing world gained some market access (typically intermediated by multinational capital) and, in return, large capital in highly developed countries got much greater protection and monopoly power, through tighter enforcement of intellectual property rights and greater investment protections."

time to reverse a century of fire-management policy. That will require sweeping regulatory reforms, and tons of money.