In 2017 Northern Ireland's Renewable Heat Incentive paid businesses to switch from coal to renewable heating, typically burning wood pellets. The subsidy per unit of energy was greater than what the fuel cost, so a business could profit simply by burning as much fuel as possible, even heating empty buildings. The scheme was meant to cut emissions but rewarded consumption instead. The political fallout led to the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive in 2017, and it was not reconvened until 2020. It is a textbook case of a perverse incentive, where a rule produces the opposite of what its designers intended.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.