http://www.economist.com/node/21547283
This article is about the European Union trying to put tighter emission regulations on airplanes and China's anger towards them. Many countries have displayed disdain over the regulation changes, however China is the only country to officially ban their airplanes from complying.
This article really speaks to how governments rank priorities differently and weigh externalities differently depending on morals. Should private enterprise be accountable for every negative externality they cause? Will these costs be fed directly to consumers, I would say so, especially in a strained and competitive industry like commercial airlines. To digress, should air lines be given back money for positive externalities associated with frequently air travel? I am indecisive.
1 comment:
It is not surprising that it is EU that came up with the idea for tighter regulations. They are known to be environmentally-conscious. China banned the regulations because right now, economic growth is their main priority. I think that they are not yet at the level of economic development, where they can feel comfortable making companies pay higher costs for the sake of environmental consciousness. Economic growth and growth of businesses with the least amount of costs is their goal right now. As for the externalities, I think that private companies should be responsible for the effects their activity causes, but only to a certain extent, otherwise many business would go broke, due to huge new costs they would have to pay. On the other the question is: who do you measure the harm to the society?
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