unintended consequences of killing snakes

unintended consequences of killing snakes

fiction
edward w pritchard


So the American Government under it's newest tax code soon to go in effect is allowing companies to re-capture large sum of their money from overseas tax haven Countries to America again. This was done previously in 2004 I recall. There are several incentives and penalties I understand in the new tax code to prod large corporations into immediate action.

Not being an economist I am unable to follow logically the steps of causation that the sudden inflow of a few trillion or so of dollars into American companies domestic accounts will do to the real economy and for simplicity we will leave bit coins out of the discussion for now.

Who understands this megalith system of American capitalism?

Poor Robert Merton the professor of sociology from Columbia University who wrote of the unintended consequences of Government actions is dead now, dead at 93 years old a few dozen years ago. Merton was born Jewish and took the name Merton rather than Merlin when he became a magician at a young age. Being ambitious and quite bright he went on from working as a stage magician to an academic career in sociology and economics. Where are you now magician Robert?

Wasn't it Merton who told the story of the government of India designing a program to rid it's large cities of India of viperous poisonous snakes by paying a bounty for each snake caught and killed and brought to the government snake collection center. The program was stopped when it was found out that enterprising persons were catching and breeding snakes in mass for profit.

The unintended consequences of killing snakes could be lurking in the New American tax codes. Does it matter to us in the real world ?

If only we could ask " does it matter" to  Robert Merton economist/sociologist  previously known by his given birth name of Myer Robert Schkolnick ex- magician.