There is a widespread, hardly unfounded, belief that government regulators and business are in perpetual, bitter conflict over regulations concerning environmental, food and drug, transportation and workplace safety. Government wants tough standards and businesses say they will cut into profits or drive them out of business, or so the story goes.
That story is not entirely true.
When business and government collaborate on matters of science, it is better for public well-being and the economy, and it generally results in more efficient and less antagonistic public policy and regulatory outcomes. America’s successes have so often depended on scientific innovations that have been funded by government and then spurred economic growth. Reinvigorating this collaborative approach, more in vogue from the FDR to Johnson administrations, has been a significant achievement of the Obama administration and one that needs to be continued and expanded under the Trump administration.
