[Hugh R]

I agree to a point, take emissions standards, they got us cars that now go 100,000 without a tuneup, where when the Clean Air Act was passed, cars needed tuneups every 5-10K miles. They also put out about 100x the tail pipe emissions. CAFE standards pushed technology too. Tort lawyers also contributed, think about air compressors from the 50's and 60's, plenty of moving parts to tear your hand off.