When Rules Go Wrong

This episode explores the dark side of rule-making, examining how well-intentioned regulations can backfire spectacularly. Alexandra Reeves draws from her three decades of international reporting to analyze bureaucratic nightmares, from DMV red tape to the 2008 financial crisis caused by deregulation. The episode covers historical disasters like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse, communist Czechoslovakia's typewriter registration system, and the unintended consequences of Prohibition. Modern examples include healthcare insurance denials, airport security theater, educational testing failures, and technology regulation challenges. Reeves explores how rules often serve the rule-makers rather than their intended purpose, creating policy cascades where failed rules generate more failed rules. The episode examines environmental regulation backfires, pharmaceutical approval delays during the AIDS crisis, military procurement bureaucracy, and the expansion of occupational licensing. Through compelling storytelling, Reeves demonstrates how the most dangerous phrase in any language is "that's just how we've always done it," arguing that bad rules can cost lives, destroy opportunities, and erode public trust in institutions.
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