America’s regulatory framework today consists of government agencies that are very inefficient and slow, because they have no accountability to anyone.
If we got rid of all of the regulatory agencies and shifted that work to the courts, we would see much better outcomes with higher efficiency.
I would also greatly reduce the costs of the legal system, make judges accountable (ie they can be fired easily if they do a bad job), and make it more accessible. Small claims would go up to $50,000 in today’s dollars and would be online only hearings and decisions. I would probably have layers of court above that ordered by dollar amounts and subject matter expertise if it makes sense.
For example, today a company that dumps waste into a stream could get fined by the EPA. If that fine is lower than the cost of doing business, they will just do it anyways. Under my system, a company that dumped waste into a stream could be sued by anyone downstream affected by it for the full long term value of the damage caused.
My system gives companies much stronger and scarier incentives to do what is right, and not just one easily corrupted bureaucrat enforces the rules… The whole community enforces the rules at no additional cost to taxpayers.