Unintended consequences Posted on 10/22/2019 at 21:37:29 by Ed tipshus
“How little can we foresee the consequences either of wise or unwise actions, of virtue or malice! Winston S. Churchill in “The Gathering Storm.”
page 201.
The most significant actions made by governments tend to be unintentional.
The GI Bill was designed to limit unemployment among returning serviceman; it inadvertently created a professional class of college graduates, and the growth and importance of higher education.
The VA loan was designed to stimulate the construction industry; it created the basis for suburban home ownership, and the exodus from the heart of cities.
The Interstate Highway System was meant to move troops rapidly in the event of war; it created a new pattern of land use that was suburbia. It also was a cause of the diminishing of the railroads, and also the growth of airline travel for long travel.
