Incentives That Saved Lives

One single sentence changed history and saved thousands of lives. Back in the day,

the government paid ship captains for every prisoner they loaded onto a ship to Australia.

The incentives were all wrong. Captains packed people in like sardines because they got

paid regardless of who survived. The death rate was horrific. Then,

they changed the rule. They started paying captains only for the prisoners who

walked off the ship alive. Overnight, captains bought better food and

hired doctors. Survival rates skyrocketed. That is the real study of economics. It’s not about money,

it’s about how incentives control human behavior.