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.

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