Think about the last time you ate out. Did you get mad cow disease? E. coli? Cholera? Some other form of food poisoning?

No? Well, why not? The spate of unsafe toys, tainted drugs and unhealthy food stuffs appearing over the past 12 months - especially imports from China - prompts one to ask: Why do unsafe products get to the market and what is the best way to control them?

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman blames Milton Friedman. Friedman? Yes, Friedman. In a piece that was way over the top even for Krugman, the columnist claimed that Friedman's belief in the power of markets rather than regulation is the cause of unsafe food.

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