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

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.