Those of us who have lived in the reality-based universe have known, for a long time, that the ideologues who permeated our government in the 1980s so they could cripple government were actually killing people and creating havoc in our economic lives. So, now that we have lived with the cost of de-regulation and free-market mania for a long time, things are starting to shift because–excuse me if I say this awful world–REALITY is setting in.

   So, the business press is starting to realize this. The Wall Street Journal first reports (subscribers only) on a major trend under the headline "Amid Turmoil, U.S. Turns Away From Decades of Deregulation":

The housing and financial crisis convulsing the U.S. is powering a new wave of government regulation of business and the economy.

Federal and state governments alike are increasingly hands-on in their effort to deal with failing businesses, plunging house prices, worthless mortgages and soaring energy prices. The steps add up to a major challenge to the movement toward deregulation that has defined American governance for much of the past quarter-century since the "Reagan Revolution" of the early 1980s. In fact, some proponents today of a bigger oversight role for government are Republican heirs to the legacy of President Reagan.

   Yes, it’s the "turmoil" and "crisis" that may be waking people up but I like to think of it as waking up to REALITY. And people are waking up:

Public opinion is shaping the response. By a 53%-to-42% margin, Americans want government to "do more to solve problems," according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Wednesday. A dozen years earlier, respondents opposed government action by a 2-to-1 margin.

   This is the moment to put a stake through the heart of a dumb policy that was always about ideology and never about REALITY. The broader target we need to fix on is the philosophy of Market Fundamentalism–where the market is God and dictates how society should shape its priorities. Garbage.

   And, as I said, this garbage caused the deaths of lots of people. In fact, The Journal also reports that there is now a push for a tougher standard–weakening standards was the Holy Grail for the de-regulationists–for cranes:

Crane-related fatalities continued to mount, with six deaths in the past week, prompting Democrats in Congress to push for an enhanced federal safety standard and put more pressure on the agency charged with overseeing workplace safety.

An elderly man who was in his car watching a church steeple being assembled in Oklahoma City Thursday was killed when the boom of the crane fell on the car, according to a local fire-department official.

A day earlier, an iron worker in Normal, Ill., who was assembling girders at a construction site, died when the boom of a crane fell on him, according to the McLean County, Ill., coroner. Friday, four workers were killed and seven injured when a 30-story crane, one of the world’s largest, collapsed at the LyondellBasell Industries refinery in Houston.

   I’ve been writing about the New York phenomena of crane deaths for the past few months. So, it’s nice to see people are waking up and, perhaps, the idea that workers’ deaths are an acceptable cost for the glories of the free market is being questioned.