Tag: risk
Freaking out over tiny risks: A case study from a moral panic
May 15, 2023 | Post
Cognitive psychologists have long recognized that people overestimate the occurrence of rare events. But these heuristics are not without cost.
Supposed FBI investigations into refugees shouldn’t scare you
March 28, 2017 | Post
This past Monday, President Trump released a new executive order shutting down the refugee program for 120 days and banning immigration from six majority-Muslim countries for 90 days. President Trump attempted to justify these changes by stating in part that: The Attorney General has reported to me that more than 300 persons who entered the […]
Huge net costs from Trump’s new executive order cutting refugees
March 11, 2017 | Post
President Trump earlier this week issued a revised version of his infamous executive order to temporarily ban the issuance of new green cards and visas for nationals from Iran, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and Sudan. The new order dropped Iraq, which eviscerated Trump’s argument that the list of banned countries is based on an existing list […]
Refugees, immigration, and the trolley problem
March 5, 2017 | Post
During the presidential campaign Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, tweeted a picture of a bowl of Skittles candies along with the caption: “If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you. Would you take handful? That’s our Syrian refugee problem.” Trump’s tweet generated backlash from many corners but […]
Car crashes and hockey fights — how safety mandates can make life more dangerous
January 16, 2017 | Post
Suppose you want to reduce deaths in automobile accidents. Should you make cars safer? Seems like a no-brainer, right? But consider: suppose instead of an airbag in your steering column, we put a six-inch dagger.
Privilege, Risk, and Harm
December 18, 2016 | Post
Trump’s victory has triggered a spate of post-hoc analysis about what went wrong. One of the major narratives to take root is that Trump’s win was fueled by a rejection of PC culture and identity politics broadly.