Externalities

Jared and I discussed Externalities on the first day of class.  We defined an externality as a cost or benefit that affects a third party who did not choose to incur that cost or benefit.  There were two forms of externalities negative and positive.  An example of a negative externality is when fisherman in the northeast noticed a decline in fish population and it was linked to coal burning factories producing chemicals which resulted in acid rain that killed the fish as well as other natural resources.  A positive externality is a bee keeper having bees pollinate surrounding crops.  After one day in Venice an externality that we have noticed is how many people smoke cigarettes, this can be seen as a negative externality since the second hand smoke can affect others health.

We have both noticed that externalities within any area of society can be found. Externalities can be observed in a different ways than we might see back at home, but in others can be very similar no matter your location.