It is probably naïve to wish that a new administration would bring change to this regulatory landscape. Disclosures are the only type of regulation that conservatives and liberals, libertarians and progressives, all like. Disclosure legislation passes with no opposition, and even business interests admit they would “rather disclose than be regulated." Despite the mountains of evidence showing that disclosure and labeling laws have yielded only negligible benefits (and sometimes cause unintended harms—think of GMO labeling), people are unwilling to renounce their dedication to this regulatory panacea.

So my wish is best expressed as a proposal. How about a “sunset” principle for stale warnings and labels? I realize that I cannot persuade lawmakers to abandon their ever-sprouting hopes that new disclosures will solve new problems. But if evidence shows that old disclosures are futile—that they have not accomplished their goal of improving people’s choices and behavior, and that attempts to simplify them also failed—these mandates should expire! Let us be guided by the sensible test of time.

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