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The Pottery Barn rule is an American expression alluding to a "you break it, you buy it" policy, by which a retail store holds a customer responsible for damage done to merchandise on display. It is an analogy often used in the political or military arena to suggest that if an actor inadvertently creates a problem, the actor is obliged to provide funding sufficient to correct it. In reality, Pottery Barn—a chain of upscale home furnishing stores in the United States—does not have a "you break it, you bought it" policy, but instead writes off broken merchandise as a loss, as do most large American retailers. Many U.S. states have statutes forbidding such policies (absent negligence or willful destruction). Legal doctrine also holds that a retailer incurs the risk that merchandise will be destroyed by placing it where customers can handle it and not doing anything to discourage them.〔 ==Origin and usage== ''New York Times'' columnist Thomas L. Friedman claims to have coined the term, having used the phrase "the pottery store rule" in a February 12, 2003, column. He has said he referred to Pottery Barn specifically in speeches. According to ''Washington Post'' journalist Bob Woodward, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cited the rule in the summer of 2002 when warning President George W. Bush of the consequences of his planned military action in Iraq:
Powell confirmed the quotation on Jonathan Dimbleby's "Dimbleby" program on April 30, 2006. Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry cited the rule and attributed it to Powell in debating Bush on policy on the Iraq war during the first debate of the 2004 Presidential election:
Powell denies using the term "pottery barn rule", but stated: "It is said that I used the “Pottery Barn rule.” I never did it; () Friedman did it … But what I did say … (that ) once you break it, you are going to own it, and we’re going to be responsible for 26 million people standing there looking at us. And it’s going to suck up a good 40 to 50 percent of the Army for years. And it’s going to take all the oxygen out of the political environment . . ." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pottery Barn rule」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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