Chapter 17 and Chapter 18 Summary and Analysis

In Chapter 17, Rand explains the origins of the next out of control agency, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and USDA (US Department of Agriculture). He points out that original food storage abilities were limited, and that, following the highly sensationalized "The Jungle", which depicted horrific food safety issues, Roosevelt created the Food and Drug Acts, creating the FDA to ensure food safety inspections were done. This was later expanded to include cosmetics and anything else one could consume or apply to the body or hair. Prescription drugs also became regulated, and over time, the FDA continued to grow. It now has a budget of over four billion dollars. The food administration portion of the regulations soon came under the USDA, which has also grown, and has a budget of nearly 450 billion dollars. Rand points out that...