SOCIAL STRATEGY AND TACTICS IN THE SEARCH FOR SAFETY

In The Search for Safety, Aaron Wildavsky argues that the pervasivenes s of uncertainty, the complexity of economy and society, and the trial -and-error strengths of a competitive market system make alleviating d amages through market processes superior to a preventive strategy of r egulatory anticipation. Close examination of a number of issues that a re central to his argument-anticipation vs. resiliency, the effects of wealth on health, the competitive market as an engine for social tria l and error, and equity in aggregating benefits and costs across indiv iduals and different probabilistic states - leads to considerable skep ticism as to whether Wildavsky's strategy of less government regulatio n and a more unfettered market would indeed produce greater safety.