> What am I missing? The paradox is that they tried to reduce demand to reduce consumption, but accidentally reduced price, so increased consumption. The bit

> What am I missing? The paradox is that they tried to reduce demand to reduce consumption, but accidentally reduced price, so increased consumption. The bit you're missing is that duality, that an action intended to reduce demand could reduce price instead. Applying rules of supply and demand happens as a step after categorising the action, that the action was miscategorised led to a misprediction.