#externalities

[probablyasocialecologist]

Capitalism must be regarded as an economy of unpaid costs, ‘unpaid’ in so far as a substantial portion of the actual costs of production remains unaccounted for in entrepreneurial outlays; instead they are shifted to, and ultimately borne by, third persons or by the community as a whole.

Karl William Kapp, The Social Costs of Business Enterprise

[cmariequeerly]

The bottom line must rise

Our costs must fall

What can we get away with not paying for?

A leaky pipe is better than a strong

To the man who writes the checks

The spill was a great tragedy

But see how cheap contrition

Who could have seen,

Could have known the costs?

Surely not the man watching the money

[onehotfuckingmess]

i think about this a lot because the good place really went THERE

[raglanphd]

[mareephemerae]

The 1980s: My teenage years and Exxon’s lies

I was watching a British quiz show on TV and the question “which party was in opposition during the 1980s?’ was asked. The answer was Labour.

In the 1980s oil companies such as Exxon deliberately misinformed the general public about the potential impact of burning fossil fuels, a fact recently aired by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The 1980s were my teenage years. My friends and I naively drove cars, flew in airplanes and were almost bludgeoned into participating in consumer society from that time right through our adult lives, knowing little of the consequences of these actions.

Nearly 20 years ago in the early 2000s I studied climate science at university and remember fellow students saying that climate ‘deniers’ were paid by petrol companies to refute the findings of reputable scientists. It was rumoured that one of our own lecturers fell into this category. The whole proposition seemed ridiculous at the time but unfortunately it was all too true and just one generation of  greed, hypocrisy and lies has brought our climate and ecological systems to their knees. If more people had known what was going on, we would have been able to make informed choices.

I wonder whether things would have been different if the Conservatives / Republicans were not in power during that crucial time  - the 1980s - when the foundations of free market globalisation ( and the seeds of our destruction) were laid.

[economistsdoitwithmodels]

So How Should We Feel About NDAs? Economics Can Answer That!

As the allegations surrounding Harvey Weinstein grow, people understandably have questions. Many questions are specific and refer to the…

Don't ever tell me that economics doesn't have real-world applications...

[exotericenvironmentalism]

From a linear economy to a circular economy, via a recycling economy. Via The Story of Stuff Project