Knowing public thresholds, or not
A basic principle of social psychology is that people used to a certain something will react strongly if that something is suddenly taken away. National Public Radio reports on the gas rationing that began yesterday in Iran and the public’s violent responses. The county would have seen less negative reactions had the rationing been instituted incrementally, if possible.
To conserve water in my area, utilities raise the rates after resource economists are consulted on the question: How much can we raise prices to encourage decreased consumption without having consumer revolt?
