[lit-ideas] Re: flu vaccine
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 11:37:53 +0900
On 2004/10/30, at 1:20, Ursula Stange wrote:
> This, of course, didn't threaten anyone's life, and I'd like to think=20=
> if my laziness could have had more dire consequences, I would have=20
> kept checking the books. But I suspect that laziness creeps in=20
> everywhere. It's always seemed the grossest unfairness of our unfair=20=
> lives that we can all make the same mistakes and only some of us pay=20=
> for them.
It isn't just laziness. What is a company to do when its market is=20
mature and the bosses and shareholders are still demanding growth?=20
Trimming costs may start out yielding greater efficiency; but sooner or=20=
later it inevitably becomes cutting corners.
In markets that deal in non-essential goods the result may simply be=20
shoddiness that eventually puts the firm out of business.
In markets for essential goods (food, medicine, power, transportation)=20=
the predictable result is a disaster. Thus, in Japan, for example, the=20=
last few years have produced a regular spate of food contamination=20
incidents, railway crashes, and just short of catastrophic breakdowns=20
at nuclear power plants=81\all cases that satisfy the conditions =
mentioned=20
above.
In the best case, the disaster is both dramatic enough to stimulate=20
reform and small enough not to be destructive on a large scale.
John McCreery
P.S. Feeling gloomy on another rainy day in Yokohama.=
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