First of all, like many of you, I am a Libertarian. I believe that force is the sole and ultimate societal ill, and that identification and elimination of force is the key to creating a more just and productive world. Along those lines, I think it's consistent to say that the economic manifestation of force is the concept of "negative externality". A negative externality is simply a cost or harm that is imposed on others without their consent. Furthermore, and just as a technicality, since I do not think it is consistent to attribute any inherent value to goodwill (goodwill is just as much force as ill-will) I ignore positive externalities and do not believe that they are capable of offsetting the cost of negative externalities also without explicit consent.
I'd like to perform a little exercise in this thread. I'd like to crowdsource a list of all of the negative externalities that exist in the world, in order of global impact.
For a refresher or for those new to the subject, some discussion of externalities:
http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/externalityhttp://economics.fundamentalfinance.com/negative-externality.phpSo, please, help add to the list. You can 1) add an item to the list, 2) separate an existing item into two or more items, or 3) re-order items in the list. Please provide justification for your addition or change.
- air pollution
- water pollution
- traffic
- noise pollution
- monetary inflation
- regulatory transaction costs
- taxes
- infectious diseases
- littering
- corporate liability shields
