
The Cobra Effect: Lessons in Unintended Consequences - RickJWagner
https://fee.org/articles/the-cobra-effect-lessons-in-unintended-consequences
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twiceaday
Imagine if the local government benefited from more cobras. Then this cobra
anecdote would be quite a genius move by them to achieve the end result while
maintaining plausible deniability throughout. Looking at the effective
incentive structures rather than intent is a good lesson for evaluating
systems. But in terms of incentives to think this way, I think the strongest
incentive is that likely 'unintended' consequences do not exist. The
consequences are fully intended and concealed. The stated intent is PR. The
benefactors of the 'unintended' consequences are involved in the planning.
'Unintended consequences' are not accidents they are a widely used strategy.

