Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Monday, May 08, 2006
Unintended Consequences
Boy, is this a story of unintended consequences or what?

Fortunately (and for a change), it's not about the United States government:
The LA Times fronts a dispatch from a Chinese town where 98 percent of the residents are divorced. The local government, trying to buy farmers out of their land so it could be developed, offered a deal: a two-bedroom apartment for couples, a one-bedroom apartment for singles. Many couples figured they'd get a quick divorce, live together in the small apartment, remarry each other, and make extra money by renting out the other one. But then it all went sour: Men took the chance to take up with younger women, young parents abandoned their children, and to top it off, the government didn't have enough one-bedroom apartments to accommodate the unexpected demand.
Written at 8:39 AM by Greyhair.
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