Ruth Marcus has written a great op-ed in today's Washington Post. Marcus discusses recently-discovered lapses in the FAA's aircraft inspection program and connects it to the broader pattern of anti-regulatory policies in the Bush administration: The lapses are symptomatic, too, of much deeper problems across the government. These are not outbreaks of sheer, "heck of a job" incompetence. There is some of that, certainly, but this administration's allergy to government intervention and affection for the private sector have contributed to a spate of regulatory failures, from lead in imported toys to dangerous prescription drugs to subprime mortgages. The course of these events traces a depressingly familiar arc: paeans to the free market followed by disaster followed by grudging acceptance of regulation. Just a year ago, Treasury Undersecretary Robert Steel proclaimed that new regulation of financial markets was unnecessary because "sophisticated financial firms have both the direct financial incentives and expertise to provide for effective market discipline." Right. Just ask Bear Stearns. Check it out here: "When a Watchdog Isn't"