If you are going to mess about with systems, the real key is to have a clear and wide ranging understanding of the system before you do so. This is my main beef with politicians of any stripe; they don't seem to look behind the narrow, headline grabbing 'initiative' that produces an immediate and obvious result; not realising the systemic action that then produces long-term damage. Some of the recent policy announcements are classic examples of this. No-one can be infallible in this respect, but there is good research and a lot of tools and techniques that help to understand wider, non-linear systems; I've never heard a politician express the slightest interest in any of it.