Moral Hazard Metaphor

Moral hazard is an insurance term. It refers to the possible tendency of the insured to behave differently from the uninsured in a negative way.
Thus, a person with fire insurance might be a little less diligent about clearing the brush around his home. Makes sense. Being insulated from consequences could surely change behavior.

How about insurance fraud?
Tired of married life, you take out a large insurance policy on the life of your spouse. Then you go out sailing in rough weather. After a few too many drinks, someone falls overboard. But this may be too obvious. I'm sure a clever psychopath could figure out a better scheme.

How about moral hazard and confession? Worried about your immortal soul you repeatedly seek remission of your sins. What you don't do is to stop sinning.

Malingering is a sort of moral hazard. Many people prefer to loaf rather than to work. An illness provides a convenient excuse to avoid work. A headache, insomnia, back pain, carpal tunnel sydrome, depression, etc.
For these malingering strategies to work you usually need a codependent. Someone who will do your work if you have a good enough excuse.

So moral hazard looks like a metaphor to me. It is a metaphor for all the strategies people employ to get something for nothing. To live well and get someone else to do the work.

My bad behavior will not only be insulated from bad consequences, it will actually be rewarded.
My negligence will pay off in a big way. When my house burns down they will rebuild it. Then I will have a new house!

If anything inconvenient happens in my life, I will be entitled to all sorts of goodies.
Yes, the world of moral hazard is a beautiful world, a world of bliss, where anything can happen.