IB Economics B

Wikileaks might choose to relase the names of people and firms in posession of "black, unaccounted money". If it chooses to do so the CPI will use this money for pubblic goods. This would greatly benefit the economy from a pubblic point of view and would also probably prevent people from creating illegal bank accounts to evade taxes in the future.

This article discusses how G.E. will begin selling jet parts and technology with China which would result in a huge financial gain. The concerns are though that by releasing this technology to china they could produce the goods for cheaper and hurt the United States and that they could develop a stronger military aviation program which could hurt our own military.

This article explains public goods and services with some real case examples. The article focuses on what is public goods rather than real case example

An article talking about the fiscal details of a lighthouse, which is a public good.

The article talks about the state of Tehran's atmosphere which has turned into a thick brown haze of smog. The inadequacy of public transportation in the city along with government policy promoting automobile usage for its booming car industry has created an atmosphere which has led to the bastardization of its air and the consequent deaths of its citizens. The article is related with this week's topic in the sense that in case of market failure (overproduction of cars) an adequate government response is required to stabilize the situation - which was not the case for Ahmadinejad's Tehran.

The article raises an interesting point regarding the use of public good expenditure as a stimulant for the economy and job creation - thus creating an overall positive benefit for society. It also discusses expenditure conflicts between provision of different types of infrastructure e.g. roads or highways as transportation infrastructure. Ultimately, it states that the US should spend more on public goods oriented around job creation to benefit the economy.

This is an article regarding the current situation in Uganda regarding their governments economics and refers to what they are attempting to do with public goods several times. It is somewhat on a commentary of the structure of the the economy of Uganda.

As the recession crawls on we see the reduction of many public goods. In this NY times article we hear about the cuts to military spending in the USA. Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to cut 78 BIllion dollars of the military budget in five years.

This article touches on how there has been a recent escalation in military pursuits in Afghanistan. This is an example of a public good because the military is non-exclusive, as everybody is subject to the benefits (and side effects) to the actions the military is taking.

In Jakarta, Indonesia, the Transportation Ministry plans to give yellow license plates to vehicles transporting public goods so they can receive subsidized fuel with hopes of making up for the positive externalities of consumption conferred by these public goods.

This article considers what governments should 'spend their money on'. Apparently, economists seem to have the answer to that question: lighthouses and autopsies; public goods that "we all need, that will make our lives better, but that the market will not and cannot provide". Other public goods that the society would benefit from when financially supported by the government are also mentioned in the article, examples of those are: court systems, the military, etc. The debate does not stop here however for another question arises: How MUCH should the government invest in each of the public goods that need to be provided?

This articles gives an idea what negative and positive externalities are with good examples.

Excel Energy Inc. in Denver Colorado decides to transfer switch one of its coal-fired power plant units to run on natural gas as part of its plan to cut emissions. By this, they attempt to decrease the negative externalities, or, on other words, the colossal amounts of pollution and green house gases emitted by coal-fired power plants. The question is; will this switch be effective in reducing the pollution negative externality?

Global warming, the "mother of all negative externalities", may be a substantial opportunity for development for Africa. Pavan Sukhdev and other prominent economists claim that monetization of natural assets by "rediscovering" economics may bring great wealth to Africa.

There is a recent movement of an increase in people who use coal for heating. This would put pollution into the air, thereby carrying with it a negative externality.

Thanks for posting this Michael! It effectively removes the phrase "clean coal". There are quite a few articles about the environment this week!

People are pushing for a bill that will force companies to think more on the green side of things, and consider the environment when making decisions.

Although, this article isn't taken from the newspaper, it is very short and refers to what we have studied this week. The author is a teacher and he writes how he is affected by negative externality.

I think this article was interesting as it talks about one proposal of government to stop pollution

This article involves the usage of economics in the degradation of the environment and how it can be applied to help save the environment.

This article talks about how environmental damaging are and should be taken in account in economics.

The article quantifies the external costs of smoking in addition to the private costs imposed upon the smoker. It cites a cost of $150 for cleaning costs (for cars dirtied by ash), with up to $1000 for high-end models. Cleaning a house plagued by smoke is estimated to cost up to $2000. This does not include the costs associated with healthcare payments that need to be paid to employees as part of coverage plans. Furthermore, it is estimated that $96.7 billion is spent on private and public healthcare pertaining to smoker-related illnesses. These negative externalities are not accounted for in the price of a pack of cigarettes (the article states a price of $4-$5 for a single pack) and thus results in an allocative inefficiency - smoking is grossly overconsumed by society.

This is a great article. It covers no only the firsthand costs of smoking, but also the long term effects on costs.

this article discusses the negative externality of car production, lack of roads, and pollution caused by cars. This article discusses how people's health are being affected.