Kill the Data

Let's say that you own a company. This company produces some good (say, gas grills) that, after discussing with your employees, you find out poses a greater safety threat than what was previously thought. Even though this threat is small, you find out that it's still greater than you had been revealing to the public.

What should you do? Should you warn your customers of the potential problem, knowing that as information spreads about this increased risk it might hamper sales and thus reduce your profits? And, if you decided to destroy the information specifically to protect sales, wouldn't the government like a word with you, not to mention the lawyers?

What if the entity seeking to destroy the information was the government?

MOFFETT FIELD, California (AP) -- An unprecedented national survey of pilots by the U.S. government has found that safety problems like near collisions and runway interference occur far more frequently than previously recognized. But the government is withholding the information, fearful it would upset air travelers and hurt airline profits.

Comments

[True_liberal]

What an excellent commentary on publicly-funded research. The first question the researchers ask: "What do you want the answer to be?"