If you have children—or have ever had to babysit them—you may understand something that U.S. regulators do not.

Rules can accomplish very little, especially in a vacuum. Tell a bratty kid, “No more cookies” and you may do little more than inspire them to obtain the forbidden treat by any means necessary. You created a challenge and inspired workarounds. Put the cookie jar on a high shelf? No problem. They will just crawl up on a chair, endangering both themselves and all around them.