Group items tagged

I found this article very interesting because it has to do with externalities and common goods. I think this article may be associated with the article "Trajedy of the Commons" which we read because instead of talking of men's overconsumption of grass lands, it talks about the overcosumption of the ocean's self-purifying system. Generally, when talking about production of electricity through fission power plants, there will be unusable waste that is highly harmful for men and the environment because it emits highly ionizing radiation. But producers of that energy simply throw that waste in the oceans and wash their hands of the problem. The cost of society for that energy is equal to the producer's cost plus the cost for that damage the nuclear waste does. The marginal social cost is greater then the marginal private cost. But since, in a free market, it the private who determines the quantity consumed, there will be too much nuclear electricity produced with respect to society. "too much" means that resources are not optimally allocated and therefore there is a market failure.

This article is about a car made by General Motors. The company have, if we look at this as in the way that the car will never be profitable, made a huge mistake of miscalculating the costs and profits earned from the car. But if we look at it as if the car would be profitable, they might have thought of making a good car that will sell easily. It is a car that is environmental friendly, and this will affect the cars coming up in the same series. It will then be more of a long-run investment.

This article is about efficiency, as the investments in energy efficiency programs created revenue and new jobs. Resources are not being wasted by inefficient use. The efficiency could also be related to economies of scale, since the firm is experiencing increasing returns to scale- every million dollars invested resulted in revenue and new jobs, and hence the work is becoming more efficient and may cause decreases in the long-run average costs.

I think this article relates to what we are studying as it mainly talks about scarcity. It says that water scarcity is one of the main challenges in Delhi, there is a huge demand for it but they need to learn how to distribute it around the city. People usually do not think that water is scarce, however this article shows that it is and people need to learn how to effectively distribute it.

Water scarcity is a very tough argument. We are consuming very high quantities of water and a huge part is being wasted. The study of economics may help people the population to make a "production possibility curve" so that the use of water is balanced.

It's really important that everyone start to realize how bad this cold be in the long run. If this wasteful use of water continues, we are going to face some serious consequences. Scientists should start working on developing new methods for agricultural use of water, as agriculture is considered to be on top of the consuming industries of water in many areas. meanwhile I think that countries should develop a water consuming rule, that somehow reduces water consumption.

This article describes how processed food and fast food have many negative externalities which in the end makes them cost more than organic foods which are more expensive in the stores. Processed foods may be cheaper than organic food, however the pollution during the process of producing the food, the health problems involved and the low wages which are unpaid for are all consequences which in the end will make these foods cost more.

This article shows how, since the meltdown of the Fukushima plant in 2011, the "want" of security (which is scarce) increased and gave energy problems to the country (energy is one of the most important scarce resources . Japan finds itself making decisions limited by the scarcity of energy, safety, time and technology. Should it take risks and stop spending money? Should it keep everybody safe and just go for the hydrocarbur plants? Should it simply invest on renewable energy plants? Should it take time and reaserch   Pietro

This article describes how the UK government is heavily subsidising fossil fuel producers instead of prioritising and investing money in renewable sources of energy. Although it is essential to keep crude oil and fossil fuel prices low, as they are essential to many businesses, consumers and indeed the country itself, the G20, of which the UK is part of, has made a commitment to phasing out fossil fuels in favour of greener and more sustainable energy sources.