building roads
Transportation
Why We Won’t Want a Wider Highway

Intuitively logical for reducing congestion, sometimes adding highway lanes and road building have unintended consequences.

Europe's energy prices
What's Trending
European Energy Policy Possibilities

Trying to keep it simple, we can summarize one think tank’s policy brief to see options for managing Europe’s soaring energy prices.

spilled shipping containers
Transportation
Why LEGO and Yeti Are Similar

Even from the best ideas, like what container ships did for our transportation infrastructure, we can have unintended consequences.

Amazon Echo Dot
technology
When (Unintentionally) Alexa Boosts Music Revenue

After looking at the unintended consequences of New Jersey’s plastic bag ban, we can add to our list of surprises. This time, Alexa has the story. When Song Titles Matter Our story starts with a mom admitting that poop is…

plastic bag ban
Environment
New Jersey Plastic Bag Ban Surprises

Created to reduce our use of plastic, the New Jersey plastic bag ban has had unintended environmental consequences.

"Cobra Effect"
Uncategorized
Why New Jersey’s Plastic Bag Ban Might Create the “Cobra Effect”

With New Jersey’s new paper and plastic bag bans, we can ask if the regulations will have the unintended consequence of the “Cobra Effect.”

Weekly Economic News Roundup and safety signs
Behavioral Economics
The Signs That Backfire

According to a recent study, sometimes highway signs can have the unintended consequence of creating what they are trying to prevent.

Weekly Economic News Roundup and recycling soft plastic
Environment
The Mystery of the Missing Wrap

Although soft plastic recycling was supermarket chain Tesco’s goal, it did not quite work out as they planned.

Weekly Economic News Roundup and ranking criteria
Competition
When a Rank Is Wrong

Seemingly indisputable because of their quantifiable origins, ranking criteria are really subjective and potentially misleading.

Great Himalayan National Park
Environment
The Great Himalayan National Park’s Unintended Consequences

When planners developed India’s Great Himalayan National Park, they achieved their plans and some unintended consequences.

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