Posted by
Curt Ferguson on Thursday, March 27, 2008 12:00:00 AM
"If the government would ever get it together ..." So began the sentence of a skier at the other end of the chairlift at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. My mental radar tuned in for the rest: "...and provide universal health care..." But I am getting ahead of myself.
There seems to still be debate in the world over this question: Do people change their behavior when they believe they no longer bear the risk thereof? Put more bluntly, do government "safety nets" actually cause people to fall? (In a technical sense, "cause" is probably not the right word; but "result in" or "lead to" is what we mean here.) We could pick many examples.
Will serving breakfast at school lead to fewer parents feeding their children breakfast at home?
Do corn (or milk, or honey, or sugar, etc.) subsidies result in more corn being produced?
Will giving kids condoms lead to more teenage sexual activity?
Do welfare checks to unwed mothers result in more children being born to unwed mothers?
If the government is paying for your health care, will more people go to the ER when a less costly, scheduled doctor office visit - or just eating chicken soup! - would suffice?
The answer to each of these is, of course, "yes." This is an indisputable fact of social science. Not everyone under all circumstances, but a significant number of people will make a different behavioral choice - whether the choice is to make breakfast for your kids, to plant corn instead of soybeans, to have sex when you should not be contemplating parenthood - when the government shields them from risks or consequences associated with the choice.
Which leads me to my latest anecdotal evidence that inspired this post.
Our family was vacationing in Jackson Hole, and we enjoyed three days of skiing. When it comes to ski runs, I am definitely a "green dot" (beginner) and "blue square" (intermediate) guy; the "black diamond" runs are for the experts: I have to watch, wonder ... and shudder.
You learn some interesting stuff if you chat with the people on ski lifts. I'm really not prone to initiate such conversations. "Where 'ya from?" and "whadaya do when yer not skiing?" are about as far as I usually get, if that much. By the way, the best answer I heard today was, "I teach skiing." (Figures! "Please look the other way while I get off the chair lift.") On the other hand, just listening to the people around me is sometimes more enlightening.
My daughter and I were skiing together Friday. On a quad lift, I sat on one end, then LaRae; two women were seated on the other side of LaRae. Their conversation was apparently not intended to be private. The one lamented the fact that, although she enjoys the challenge and thrill of the more dangerous slopes, she has to pretty much stick with the intermediate trails. "I don't have any health insurance," she explained. "I can't really afford to blow out a knee or break an arm or something!"
Then, matter-of-fact-like, she dropped the blockbuster:
"If the government would ever get it together and provide universal health care coverage, we could ski wherever we want to!"
Transfer the risk to others, and some people will engage in more risky behavior than they would if they alone bore the risk. Whether it's planting too much corn, neglecting breakfast, having illicit sex...or skiing black diamonds. Thank you, ma'am, for your honesty.
This fundamental fact of human behavior must be considered in economic policy decisions. To ignore it or pretend it does not exist is folly.