Absolutely.  Although there is a very useful scenario where this could be consided a run-time setting:

  # turboprofiler.py
  # Load up the memory hooker which will supply us with all the info
  import _turboprofiler
  _turboprofiler.hookup()

Perhaps people interested in memory optimizations and profiling could hook up at pycon?  It is the most common regular query I get from people in my organization:  How can I find out how python is using/leaking/wasting memory?