Foolproof why safety can be dangerous and how danger makes us safe

Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-312) and index.

Progressives, engineers, and ecologists -- "Please, God, not in my district": before the economy could destroy itself, first Paul Volcker had to save it -- Now is the time to panic: what to do when safety fails -- More risk, please: the unintended consequences of football helmets and antilock brakes -- The trouble with savings: from gold standard to euro -- Unnatural disaster: the high cost of taming Mother Nature -- Good risk, bad risk: balancing safety with disaster -- The rescuer's dilemma: chaos today or chaos tomorrow? -- The price of peace of mind: why insurance protects us from small disasters but not big ones -- "If you think you are dangerous, you are safe": why airplanes hardly ever crash -- A foolproofer's handbook: how to make the most of our best instincts.

"We have learned a staggering amount about human nature and disaster -- yet we keep having car crashes, floods, and financial crises. Partly this is because the success we have at making life safer enables us to take bigger risks. As our cities, transport systems, and financial markets become more interconnected and complex, so does the potential for catastrophe. How do we stay safe? Should we? What if our attempts are exposing us even more to the very risks we are avoiding? Would acceptance of danger make us more secure? Is there such a thing as foolproof?" --