The efficiency trap: why optimising everything can backfire, badly

From roundabouts to the stock market, relentless streamlining could be making the world more dangerous We have all been there: packed shoulder to shoulder on the train while the person beside us coughs and sneezes.

A protective flu jab offers some reassurance, but so does the thought that there will be a hospital bed for you, should you need it. Yet, in England, about 95% of adult hospital beds were occupied at the height of flu season last year. If hospitals were hotels, that level of occupancy would be good…