Closing Remarks

Advice: Be Wary of Unintended consequences
Unintended consequences often occur when something is changed. I don’t think anyone
deliberately wanted to destroy pension schemes in the UK when the banks were saved by
money printing and low interest rates which then forced bond yields into ‘no interest’
territory.
I don’t suppose the Victorians intended to wipe out the red squirrel population when they
brought some grey squirrels from America to look pretty in our city parks.
When strong passwords were mandated for secure websites involving upper case, lower
case, numbers and symbology to make them more secure, people started writing them
down where miscreants could steal them.
Use-it-or-lose it budget policies were intended to lead to more efficient distribution of
resources. In reality, it's not uncommon for managers to blow year end budgets on frivolous
purchases so that they don't lose it next year.
Not all unintended consequences are unwanted. Famously, the drug Viagra was developed
to lower blood pressure, with its main current use being discovered as a side effect in
clinical trials.
My favourite relates to the British Raj. The government, concerned about the number of
venomous cobra snakes in Delhi, offered a bounty for every dead cobra. Initially this was
successful as large numbers of snakes were killed for the reward. However the enterprise of
local people was not considered. They began to breed cobras for the income. When the
government became aware of this, they scrapped the reward program, causing the cobra
breeders to set the now-worthless snakes free. As a result, the wild cobra population
further increased. The apparent solution for the problem made the situation much worse.
I have a personal story around ‘unintended consequences’. I have been introducing my 6
year old grand-daughter to the concept of inner peace (I mentioned this in a previous
session on advice to grandparents). She seems to be taking it on board and her confidence
grows to cope with life’s little challenges. It also seems to be increasing her individuality.
Recently she went to a frozen party where all the girls were dressed as princesses. My
grand-child was confident enough to refuse her princess costume and go as a ladybird.