Squeeze a balloon

The phrase “like squeezing a balloon” refers to a situation where trying to control or suppress a problem in one area only causes it to shift to another area.

Imagine squeezing a balloon: when you press it on one side, the air inside just moves to another part of the balloon. The air doesn’t go away: it just moves to another place.

It’s frustrating if our efforts to solve a problem are like squeezing a balloon. While they may appear successful at first, we find we have really just shifted the problem elsewhere.

Examples:

• Latin American countries have struggled to contain the drug trade. Many individual country efforts have been successful. But often that success is like squeezing a balloon: if one country cracks down on gangs, the gangs just move to another country.
• Imagine a busy road is dangerous for pedestrians. The city lowers the speed limit and puts speed bumps on the road. That road is safer. But the traffic just moved to a different road, making that one dangerous. The city’s “solution” to the dangerous road was like squeezing a balloon: the first road became safer, but the problem shifted to other roads.