Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Ignoring Harmful Economic Externalities


Externality -A consequence of an economic activity that is experienced by unrelated third parties
Silt-filled rivers are no concern of those whose livelihoods depend on the timber harvest
Heavy metals leaching after the mine closed is not part of their successful business plan
Product and packaging disposal or reclamation has no place in an accurate profit model
Emission restrictions are useless job-killing taxes, not production expenses or investments

Reneging on pension and bond obligations permits us to be competitive going forward
We need not consider public services in our housing and commercial development plans
Requiring the cleanup of acid-laced lakes is an unfair competitive burden on coal power plants
We must remain free to emit all our new compounds with no responsibility for unknown effects

Air and water are inexhaustible free goods available to all producers and consumers
Industrial diseases are basically unintended, but necessary, by-products of our good progress
Business production planning naturally seeks to avoid the extra expense of waste disposal
Any mandated expenses distort the free market, but our government subsidies are a necessity

Prevention may be important, but our profit model only requires treatment and drugs
Social programs are horribly inefficient yet insurers cannot compete with government healthcare
We rightfully mine fossil water royalty-free to maintain our short-term agricultural profits
Agribusiness firms do not bear responsibility for the runoff that taints our mother’s milk

Ignoring externalities lowers consumer prices and gives producers competitive advantage
Your typically misguided regulation costs too much money and sacrifices too many jobs
Waste disposal firms derive no revenue from proper separation and safe storage practices
Mountain top removal justifiably focuses solely on the efficient extraction of the valuable coal

Rational consumers purchase based on benefits to themselves, not on some hazy future
A sustainable ocean harvest means fewer profits and smaller dividends this quarter
Soil degradation boosts short-term bottom line and earns CorproAg managers fat bonuses
Our responsibility for the fertilizers and weed killers we produce ends at their point of sale

We are, indeed, stewards of this earth but our profit-bound businesses certainly are not
There is no recourse for the regrettable respiratory effects of diesel-powered transport
The loss of songbirds is sad yet inevitable collateral damage of a healthy consumerism
Disposal of cheap, unskilled, young labor has no reportable downsides for globalization

Deplorably, salmon fishing ends because desert farmers need all of the polluted river water
That the rainbow-hued jungle birds take up mercury from the gold mines is merely a real shame
Real estate developers bear no financial burdens for smog, traffic and loss of watersheds
Should your statutes become too burdensome, our production will move where rules are lax

Dead zones at our river mouths are too complicated to stop and too expensive to restore
We need not book any ill-effects of our canned developments on non-renewable tourist areas
Deposits on recyclables are foolish socialist meddling in lawfully completed transactions
Neither government nor business bears the responsibility for the environment that sustains both

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