The Tax That Blocked the SunWhen financial optimization turns deadly

From the show

When Rewards Backfire

England's 1696 window tax was meant to target wealth but resulted in a public health catastrophe. Homeowners walled themselves into darkness to escape the fee, creating stagnant conditions that fueled typhus and cholera. This history illustrates the danger of optimizing for short-term metrics at the expense of vital long-term needs.