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Think of it this way: Town A gives tax breaks to Company that pollutes environment. Town B doesn't. Company moves to Town A. Citizens of Town A are better off
by trophycase 8y ago
Think of it this way:
Town A gives tax breaks to Company that pollutes environment. Town B doesn't. Company moves to Town A. Citizens of Town A are better off in the short term, locally speaking, but Company simply pays less for their pollution externalities, creating a net negative from the viewpoint of society as a whole.
- chrisseaton 8y agoYou could say the same thing when Town A hires a sanitation engineer from Town B by offering them a higher salary because they want better sanitation. Overall the two towns are now spending more as the same person is getting more money. It’s normal healthy competition, it’s not a problem. Good on the successful sanitation engineer, I say.
- trophycase 8y agoI think this lies firmly in a grey area of "healthy competition". Is it healthy competition if one state lets a company dump chemicals and another doesn't? Or if one state lets a company burn coal? No, it's just one state being greedy because they can socialize costs. I'm not saying this is the same thing here but let's not pretend like this "incentives" market is comparable to the labor market.
- chrisseaton 8y ago> Is it healthy competition if one state lets a company dump chemicals and another doesn't? Or if one state lets a company burn coal? You're arguing against something nobody in this thread suggested that we should do.
- trophycase 8y agoIt's a thought experiment. I'm taking "healthy competition" to the extreme to demonstrate that your conclusion isn't necessarily valid because it doesn't apply to all cases. In either case it seems we disagree on what is and isn't healthy competition.