Goal Scoring DOES NOT Equal Economic Intelligence

So, after every major accident in sports or in life, the calls for safety regulations start up in earnest. For those who have not heard, one of the NHL Florida Panthers, Richard Zednik, was injured by a skate blade cutting his neck. Only a few days later, and everybody is calling for neck guards. Unfortunately, this article decided to quote a great goal scorer, but not someone with any sense of trade-offs. Here is Teemu Selanne:

"If you start right now, the rule for newcomers, rookies, coming into the league, they have to wear it, it's mandatory, no one's ever going to complain....That's what Europe has done with their program. Nobody complains. You start wearing them in juniors, in mites. I tell you, it's going to save a lot of lives. Even if it saves one it's worth it."

This is bad thinking, mainly because of a quote earlier by the player whose skate cut Zednik, Olli Jokinen.

"What happened a couple days ago, a neck guard wouldn't make any difference. The neck guard just comes this high, you know?"

Selanne ignores basic economics of trade-offs. Jokinen understands that a neck guard wouldn't have helped, as he pointed to the spot on his neck where the guard wouldn't cover. This is an important point. Would neck guards really prevent these injuries? I don't know. My guess is no because I trust Jokinen. I do know this: Selanne does not really know economics. Great goal scorer; less than effective as an economist.