The Cobra Effect: When Solutions Make Problems Worse
In the early 1900s, British colonial India faced a venomous problem: too many cobras slithering through the streets of Delhi. The British government, determined to reduce the cobra population, came up with what seemed like a brilliant solution—offer a bounty for every dead cobra brought in. Initially, the program worked. People killed cobras and collected their rewards. The cobra population appeared to decline. Success! Or so they thought. The Twist Enterprising locals quickly realized they could breed cobras specifically to kill them and collect the bounty. Why hunt dangerous snakes in the wild when you could farm them at home? ...