The law of unintended consequences

James Macky expounds on potential unintended consequences of the OECD's proposed changes to the definition of a Permanent Establishment.

The Concise Encyclopaedia of Economics explains the law of unintended consequences as the actions of people, and especially of government, always having effects that are unanticipated or unintended. For example, in 1958 the Chinese Communist Party carried out the Great Sparrow Campaign, with the aim to rid China of seed thieving sparrows and thereby increase rice yields. After forcing the sparrows to near extinction, China suffered from a crop failure due to plagues of locusts and other ins...

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Authors: James Macky

Published Date: 02 November 2016