IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eej/eeconj/v23y1997i2p127-137.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Too Safe to Be Safe: Some Implications of Short- and Long-Run Rescue Laffer Curves

Author

Listed:
  • J. R. Clark

    (University of Tennessee, Chattanooga)

  • Dwight R. Lee

    (University of Georgia)

Abstract

The most important cost of saving lives can be that it increases the number of people who die. An interesting case in point concerns government attempts to rescue mountain climbers on Mt. McKinley. Here government agencies are caught in Gordon Tullock's "transitional gains trap." Rescue policy fails to achieve intended goals, aggravates existing problems, and prohibits politicians from suggesting changes that would be in everyone's best interest. We develop "rescue Laffer curves" which can be generalized to most enjoyable activities involving risk. Due to the difference in elasticities between short-run and long-run Laffer curves, we demonstrate how well-intended rescue efforts can result in more loss of life than would have been the case without rescue attempts.

Suggested Citation

  • J. R. Clark & Dwight R. Lee, 1997. "Too Safe to Be Safe: Some Implications of Short- and Long-Run Rescue Laffer Curves," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 23(2), pages 127-137, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:23:y:1997:i:2:p:127-137
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://web.holycross.edu/RePEc/eej/Archive/Volume23/V23N2P127_137.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:23:y:1997:i:2:p:127-137. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Victor Matheson, College of the Holy Cross (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eeaa1ea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.