Episode 134: Benevolence Backfires: The Cobra Effect
Words & Numbers
00:00
The Unintended Consequences of Carpooling
In Mexico City, the government wanted to get 20% of cars off the road immediately. It's reasonable enough and you would think that a 20% reduction would in fact yield a 20% reduce in the amount of air pollution. But it didn't quite work out that way. What did happen is some people reacted the way that politicians anticipated: They carpool or they'd take public transportation,. And as far as those people are concerned, the pollution that they emitted did decline.
Transcript
Play full episode
