Biased assessments of risk can perversely influence how we prepare for and respond to crises, business choices, and the political process. When technology stocks have done very well, people might well buy technology stocks, even if by that point they’ve become a bad investment. People might overestimate some risks, such as a nuclear power accident, because of well-publicized incidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima. They might underestimate others, such as strokes, because they do not get much attention in the media. Such misperceptions can affect policy, because some governments will
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