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Applied and bridge studies study record
Environment, climate & resourcesThe General Ratchet Impossibility Theorem: Why Welfare-Destroying Processes Resist Reversal
STATUS · Manuscript in progressSSRN · Not yet posted
MECHANISM
Identify the incentive structure and the condition that would falsify the claim.
RULE CHANGE
Read the intervention only after the paper shows how the current payoff space fails to support system welfare.
READER USE
Use the summary to see where private gain creates system exposure, then check the study record.
Contribution — what this adds to the conversation
Provides formal axiomatic proof, threshold estimation framework, and counter-ratchet theory; major theoretical contribution.
WHAT'S NEW · First general impossibility theorem for ratcheted welfare-destroying processes; unifies path dependence, irreversibility, and addiction theory.
The paper establishes the General Ratchet Impossibility Theorem (GRIT): any process satisfying three axioms—monotonic accumulation, asymmetric reversal costs, and positive feedback—becomes irreversible beyond a critical threshold. The theorem unifies twelve domain-specific ratchet results from biological, institutional, informational, and physical domains. The practical implication is that prevention is the only effective intervention once the threshold is crossed.