Why we forget lessons learned from collapsed bridges, burned towns and financial crises
Published January 1, 2026
In their second “Futures @ Risk” essay in The Globe and Mail, Dr. Laurence B. Mussio and Dr. Cosimo Pacciani note the existence of a “strategic amnesia” which allows institutions to document dangers without acting on them. They argue that while disasters often show a recurring pattern, knowledge becomes fragmented across bureaucratic silos, no one is responsible for synthesizing warnings into action, and economic incentives reward continuing operations rather than pausing to address risk. The authors propose various mechanisms to help avoid preventable catastrophes.