Sunk Cost Fallacies, Politicians, and the Nigerian Prince Scam

Even when all evidence clearly shows the big payday isn’t ever going to come, people still often send more and more money to the scammers. Our politics is much the same.

 

By John Conlin  March 31, 2021

I had intended this article to be about the concept of sunk cost and how it seems to be driving this entire, endless COVID-19 insanity.   “Sunk cost” simply means expenses one has already incurred that cannot be recovered. When we talk of sunk cost, it doesn’t have to mean only money; it can also be time or any other resource, including reputation. Yet just because one has already spent resources on something doesn’t mean one should continue spending on it. ...........

One year into COVID lockdowns, it is time to focus on the future when deciding what course to set. Instead, we see governors across the country repeating many of the same actions and strategies that haven’t generated the desired results, leading to even more draconian actions and demands in their ever more frantic chase of the elusive sunk cost. ..............They are chasing the sunk cost fallacy to their own ruin...............But at least the Nigerian prince victims pay for their own stupidity. In this COVID-19 disaster, innocent people pay for the bureaucrats’ blunders..........To Read More....