Microeconomics › Section L · Environmental protection and negative externalities › Topic L.6
The trade-off between output and environmental protection
More output or more protection: every society picks a point on that frontier, and the choice is a value judgement on which economics is mostly silent. But economics is not silent about one thing - a country sitting INSIDE the frontier, wasting output and protection both. Efficiency moves a nation to the curve; values choose where on it to stand.
In this topic
- The frontier returns
- Where on the curve: a question of values
- What economists do insist on: efficiency
- Worked example: the free lunch inside the frontier
- Growth moves the frontier itself
- Worked example: weighing a controversial project
- A country's chosen point drifts with income
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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