Analysis of Democracy essays

Analysis of Democracy essays George Bernard Shaw once said: "Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few...", and while I don't have nearly such a bleak outlook on our method of government, Mr. Shaw does hold an iota of truth in his quotation. In a perfect world, where everyone is informed, intelligent, and aware of their system of administration, democracy would work perfectly. In a world where there are different personalities, dissimilar concerns and divergent points of view, democracy falls short of the ideal of having all people being equal. Similarly, having a Philosopher-King or an equivalent in control of a country sounds fine on paper, but there would be different philosophies, disputes within the philosopher-king hierarchy itself, and of course, the never-ending task of stabilizing an entire country would daunt even the most qualified person. It is a mechanical fault of democracy itself, and not the many leaders caught up in a democratic bureaucracy that causes a country to stumble. A democracy is where the government is run by all the people who live under it. To have a true democracy, everyone must vote. People vote to exercise their democratic rights; if only 70% vote, then 70% control 100% of the government. Voting without adequate understanding and choosing candidates for the wrong reasons are symptoms of voting for the sake of voting and not taking an active interest in how our country is run. Instead of making an effort to understand issues and party fundamentals, too many ignorant people actually base their decisions on what the candidates tell them. The result is that everybody feels "burned" by the government, never realizing that they could have tipped the election simply by paying attention. Another problem with democracy is the structure of any government's bureaucracy. Vote for a party/candidate only in principle, because in practice, they act complet ...

Introduction to Externalities

Introduction to Externalities When making the claim that free, unregulated markets maximize the amount of value created for a society, economists either implicitly or explicitly assume that the actions and choices of producers and consumers in a market dont have any spillover effects onto third parties who are not directly involved in the market as a producer or a consumer. When this assumption is taken away, it no longer has to be the case that unregulated markets are value-maximizing, so its important to understand these spillover effects and their impacts on economic value. Economists call effects on those not involved in the market externalities, and they vary along two dimensions. First, externalities can be either negative or positive. Not surprisingly, negative externalities impose spillover costs on otherwise uninvolved parties, and positive externalities confer spillover benefits on otherwise uninvolved parties. (When analyzing externalities, its helpful to keep in mind that costs are just negative benefits and benefits are just negative costs.) Second, externalities can be either on production or consumption. In the case of an externality on production, the spillover effects occur when a product is physically produced. In the case of an externality on consumption, the spillover effects occur when a product is consumed. Combining these two dimensions gives four possibilities: Negative Externalities on Production Negative externalities on production occur when producing an item imposes a cost on those not directly involved in producing or consuming the item. For example, factory pollution is the quintessential negative externality on production, since the costs of pollution are felt by everyone and not just those who are producing and consuming the products that are causing the pollution. Positive Externalities on Production Positive externalities can occur during produciton such as when a popular food, such as cinnamon buns or candy, produces a desirable smell during manufacturing, releasing this positive externality to the nearby community. Another example would be adding jobs in an area with high unemployment can benefit the community putting more consumers with money to spend into that communitry  and also reducing the number of unemployed people there. Negative Externalities on Consumption Negative externalities on consumption occur when consuming an item actually imposes a cost on others. For example, the market for cigarettes has a negative externality on consumption because consuming cigarettes imposes a cost on others not involved in the market for cigarettes in the form of second-hand smoke. Positive Externalities on Consumption Because the presence of externalities makes unregulated markets inefficient, externalities can be viewed as a type of market failure. This market failure, at a fundamental level, arises because of a violation of the notion of well-defined property rights, which is, in fact, a requirement for free markets to function efficiently. This violation of property rights occurs because there are is no clear ownership of air, water, open spaces, and so on, even though society is affected by what happens to such entities. When negative externalities are present, taxes can actually make markets more efficient for society. When positive externalities are present, subsidies can make markets more efficient for society. These finds are in contrast with the conclusion that taxing or subsidizing well-functioning markets (where no externalities are present) reduces economic welfare.