The story goes that during 19th-century British colonial rule in India, authorities introduced a bounty system in Delhi to reduce the number of cobras, paying rewards for every dead snake.
While the initiative initially seemed effective, it soon backfired when people began breeding cobras to profit from the payouts. Once officials realized this, they ended the program, prompting breeders to release their snakes and worsening the problem.
This outcome became known as the “cobra effect,” a term later coined by German economist Horst Siebert to describe how well-intentioned policies can produce harmful unintended consequences, underscoring the need for foresight and careful planning in public policy.