The Onion? No, It's From The NYT

I really thought this article was a joke...but it's not!

There are some very interesting economic concepts in the article - opportunity costs, labor markets, etc.

Rant Warning...

So I was thinking today about externalities. To what extent do everyday activities result in both positive and negative externalities? If humans and our actions are completely independent from each other and the environment, then externalities are minimal. But if we aren't, and our actions have significant impact on the actions of others and our environment, then externalities may be a bigger issue then we think. In most intro textbooks, externalities are portrayed as a relatively minor problem - an issue exclusive to a few sectors (the environment, etc.). But, if every human action has an unknown or undesired effect, then every action (or market transaction) has externalities. Why don't we talk about this? Maybe because it would make modeling and analysis extremely messy and infinitely more complicated. Even so, to leave out a variable that has such far-reaching effects seems to me to be pretty ludicrous.

Sean