Libertarianism works, uh-huh...

I saw self-professed libertarian and 20/20 reporter John Stossel on The Colbert Report a while ago. In questioning libertarian beliefs, Colbert asked whether Stossel was against the Federal Aviation Administration. Stossel replied along the lines of, yes, he was against the FAA, and that the airlines companies, the market, would take steps to resolve problems. He stated that the airlines have nothing to gain by risking and killing their passengers. It's apparently a bad marketing technique.

CNN.com reports today that plane are still around flying with the problem that blew up TWA 800 ten years ago. The federal regulating agency has charged that

"without its recommended safety changes four more TWA-type disasters are likely to happen over the next 50 years."

This is apparently not enough motivation to fix the planes.

"The FAA estimates that an explosion of a fully-loaded passenger aircraft, such as a 747 or Airbus A380, would 'result in death and destruction causing societal loss of at least $1.2 billion based on prior calamities.'"

Yeah, you'd think the companies would act in their own self-interest because of their desire to not lose like, I dunno, $1.2 billion.

Without changes, the FAA also said that there is

"a nearly 40 percent probability of five or more accidents."

So far, the FAA's actions have been recommendations. The companies are waiting for the rule of law. Libertarianism, huh?