> How does externalized costs cause pollution, resource depletion, climate change, and health problems?

How does externalized costs cause pollution, resource depletion, climate change, and health problems?

Posted at: 2015-03-12 
What is it about externalized costs that causes those things to happen?

Externalized costs are costs that a company or individual has no economic incentive to pay attention to. This means that, in the absence of legal bounds, a well-run company won'[t pay attention to them. Roman plumbers were able to deliver a high-quality pipe at low manufactured cost by using lead. Their society never knew of the very real costs involved. The change in London's air quality and resultant drop in health care costs, building maintenance costs, etc. when private coal-burning was outlawed in the city is well documented, but it took law to do it because coal was the cheapest fuel.

Externalized costs are negative impacts associated with economic transactions which concern people outside of those transactions, meaning that neither the buyer nor the seller bears the brunt of the costs. One well-known example of an externalized cost is factory pollution, which can have a negative influence on the surrounding community. Many activists have raised concerns about externalized costs, suggesting that some economic systems may need to be reformed in order to address them, and some consumers have joined in the chorus asking for reform of the way people and companies do business.

When we dump waste products into the environment rather then pay to dispose of it properly, we are making those waste products the responsibility of others. Externalizing (or socializing) the cost of the cleanup.

Have a look at "true cost ecomics"

Your question makes no sense

It doesn't, but a liberal professor will try to spin it that way.

What is it about externalized costs that causes those things to happen?