Economic policies have unintended consequences
Economic policies have unintended consequences
- September 21, 2010
- An op-ed by Kenneth Small, economics professor, is featured in the Chicago Tribune September 20, 2010
From the Tribune:
Allen Sanderson’s “Economic Consequences of Pandering Problematic," Sept. 17) is right
to point out that many economic policies have unintended consequences. But he errs
by assuming those consequences are always negative. For example, he points out that
tighter fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles could cause a drop in average vehicle
size. But it's far from obvious that this will "kill more drivers and passengers."
On the contrary, tighter standards would encourage a shift from light trucks (such
as pickups and SUVs) to cars. At least three recent research studies show that such
a shift would save lives because these light trucks do much more damage to vehicles
they collide with — more than offsetting the extra safety to their own occupants.
For the full story, please visit http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-100920small_brief....
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