Fortunately, not all unintended consequences are bad. For example, economist Adam Smith in the 18th century referred to an Invisible Hand, which creates unintended social benefits and public good by ...

Several years ago, a 50-acre wooded lot at the end of my block was sold. The trees were cut down, roads were laid, and dozens of houses were built. Suddenly, those of us who lived up the street ...

“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” Each time we do something, we have a vague idea of what is going to happen next, and we even prepare for a few possible outcomes. But life does not ...

Most of us have experienced one of our best solutions backfiring and unintentionally creating a bigger problem in the future. One historical example of an unintended consequence occurred in the early ...

The California Legislature has a bad habit of writing new law in the moment and paying little or no attention to its potential consequences. While legislative history contains many examples, the most ...