Environmental external effects are evidence of the inability of
market prices to reflect the interdependence of economic activities
undertaken within a common environment. They are an essential - not
a peripheral - feature of all market economics. This essay shows
how external effects are produced by the interaction of the economy
with its environment, using a classical mass-balance model. No
matter how efficient the market may seem to be, the use of market
prices to determine depletion and pollution decisions creates more
problems than it solves. Far from sharing the stable or relatively
stable equilibrium properties of most economic models, the market
economy is shown to be forced by its environment through a
seemingly chaotic sequence of states. Reliance on the market to
accommodate each change of direction merely exaggerates the general
instability of the system. The 'market solution' to environmental
problems is shown to generate only increasing uncertainty, a
progressive myopia, and a heightened risk of conflict.
General
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