Excerpted from October 25th, 2009 AP story, “Tired from a tough hike? Rescuers fear Yuppie 911“
“Last month two men and their teenage sons tackled one of the world’s most unforgiving summertime hikes: the Grand Canyon’s parched and searing Royal Arch Loop. Along with bedrolls and freeze-dried food, the inexperienced backpackers carried a personal locator beacon — just in case. In the span of three days, the group pushed the panic button three times, mobilizing helicopters for dangerous, lifesaving rescues inside the steep canyon walls.”
“Moral hazard” says a Wikipedia article, “arises because an individual or institution does not take the full consequences and responsibilities of its doings, and therefore has a tendency to act less carefully than it alternately would, leaving another party to hold some responsibility for the consequences of those actions”.
Moral hazard has become endemic in our society. Consider the umbilicuses that we use as substitutes for knowledge — bank bailouts, insurance policies, mutual funds, cellphones and smart-phones — the ever-present illusion that someone will be there to bail us out when we take “risks?”.
