Never Again

When something bad happens it is easy to want to do everything you can to never let that bad thing happen again. We frequently hear this kind of sentiment expressed by politicians following a shooting or the discovery of some large fraud or other man made badness. This sentiment is natural as well as common. However, a following question that is very often omitted from the discussion is what is the cost of preventing that thing?

When I was a kid we had issues with birds trying to fly in our front door. It was a glass door storm door and we often left the main inside door open. They would bang and smash against it. It was annoying and hurt the birds. So we decided "never again" and put some nice strips of tape on the door in a pretty little pattern. The birds realized something was there and it ceased to be a real issue.

That is an example where the issue was effectively removed at a very limited cost. That is good. But....

We do that with airplane crashes too. Now, no one wants more planes to crash. The FAA has followed a process that basically involves rewriting the rules every time a plane crashes to make sure that failure never happens again. In theory this is good. And really in execution it has worked very well. Flying is about the safest thing you can do. But there is a cost. A literal cost. The added regulations make the process of building and operationg airplanes more expensive. So expensive in fact that there are basically no startups getting into the aircraft industry, especially in the commercial transport sector.

Is that an exchange we are good with? Maybe maybe not. It doesn't seem to be a topic of discussion much.

We could get into the topic of forever avoiding gun violence, but that is a book and a half all on its own.