Revision Presentation - Market Failure & the Environment

This new revision presentation examines the concept of market failure in the context of the environment.

Launch interactive version of Environmental Market Failure and Policy Options

Download printable handouts (pdf)

Market failure occurs when the price mechanism fails to deliver an efficient or equitable allocation of resources

Allocative efficiency occurs when the price charged for a product equals the marginal social cost of production

If the market does not price an externality correctly there is a loss of allocative efficiency

This leads to a loss of economic and social welfare and can have severe distributional consequences

Poorer people are often those worse affected by the consequences of climate change

The presentation looks at some of the issues relating to environmental damage including examples of the tragedy of the commons. And then considers some of the main forms of government intervention that might help to correct key environmental market failures.

China bans its airlines from paying EU carbon tax [5 Feb 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: Video Resources on Carbon Taxation [5 Feb 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Winning the War on Deforestation [5 Feb 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Illegal logging and the human cost [23 Jan 2012]
Unit 3 Micro: Prezi on Environmental Economics [11 Jan 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Prezi on the Economics of Negative Externalities [2 Jan 2012]
Economics of Deforestation [20 Dec 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Empty Housing and Economic Efficiency [15 Dec 2011]
Economics at the Movies: Contagion [24 Oct 2011]
Alcohol. Discuss! [18 Oct 2011]
Fuel for Thought [5 Oct 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Exercise on Equilibrium Market Prices [27 Sep 2011]
Study Note - Economic Systems [13 Sep 2011]
Economics at the Movies: The Cove - Trade in Dolphins [28 Aug 2011]
Oceans at grave risk [20 Jun 2011]
AQA A2 Economics - European Context [23 May 2011]
A2 Micro: Competition and Efficiency [19 May 2011]
Key AS Micro Terms: Economic Efficiency [16 Apr 2011]
Key AS Micro Terms: Prices [15 Apr 2011]
Progress towards low carbon economic growth [18 Mar 2011]
Fraud hits EU carbon emissions trading [20 Feb 2011]
Intense focus on cutting emissions is dumb argues Lomborg [16 Feb 2011]
When the Water Ends [15 Feb 2011]
The ethics of paying to pollute [31 Jan 2011]
Economics Q&A: Can economics provide answers to the crisis of collapsing stocks in global fishing? [19 Jan 2011]
Economics Q&A: How can the tragedy of the commons lead to environmental market failure? [18 Jan 2011]
Environmental Economics: Five Fresh Links [13 Jan 2011]
Heard the one about the £250,000 fish? [11 Jan 2011]
Trees as private and public goods [3 Jan 2011]
Revision: Types of Economic Efficiency [2 Dec 2010]
AS Micro Revision - Market Forces and Resource Allocation [2 Dec 2010]
Promising news on deforestation [2 Dec 2010]
Pull the other one…... [13 Nov 2010]
Successors to Roosevelt and Kruger - Marine Parks of the Sea [8 Nov 2010]
Economics at the Movies - The Vanishing Bees [27 Oct 2010]
Economics at the Movies - The End of the Line [26 Oct 2010]
Price mechanism in action - student car insurance [16 Oct 2010]
Bad Snow Fall in London? [11 Oct 2010]
Are the Chinese to blame for rising wine prices? [20 Sep 2010]
Falling in love with a fish [11 Aug 2010]
Ethiopia’s electronic market place [6 Jun 2010]
Lomborg stays cool as brickbats fly [6 May 2010]
Bill Gates on Energy and Carbon [9 Mar 2010]
Revision Presentation - EU & Carbon Emissions Trading [22 Feb 2010]
New House of Commons research report on carbon trading [21 Feb 2010]
Sustainable development and the tragedy of commons [21 Feb 2010]
Climate Crunch - Making the Economics Fit [4 Feb 2010]
How to make a profit from a free good [2 Dec 2009]
Gold price brings prospectors to the Highlands [13 Nov 2009]
Sub-prime carbon - government failure? [5 Nov 2009]
New series of BBC Earth Report - Deforestation and Externalities [27 Oct 2009]
New Edition of Etonomics [25 Oct 2009]
Walmart and Amazon Price War - Hyper Efficiency and the Consumer [23 Oct 2009]
Explaining the Tragedy of the Commons [3 Oct 2009]
Steelmakers stock up on surplus carbon permits [16 Sep 2009]
Government legislation week [1 Sep 2009]
Surplus carbon credits - consumer subsidise the polluters [23 Jul 2009]
Trying to turn the tide of deforestation [10 Jul 2009]
Questions in Behavioural Economics -  Reducing Your Carbon Footprint [24 Jun 2009]
Europe Revision: Fishing [4 Jun 2009]
Revision - Monopolistic Competition [27 May 2009]
Revision: Sustainable Development [20 May 2009]
Australia delays carbon trading because of recession [4 May 2009]
Fishing for a problem for the tragedy of the commons [23 Apr 2009]
Economic slump cuts EU carbon emissions [4 Apr 2009]
New Revision Presentation on European Carbon Emissions Trading [21 Feb 2009]
The Costs of Cutting Carbon [5 Dec 2008]
Get me to pay day - ok - but it will cost you 1500% [28 Jul 2008]
Change of gear and direction for Ford [24 Jul 2008]
Carbon trading for down under? [5 Jul 2008]
Cartoonists and Climate Change [3 Jul 2008]
Stern warns that cost of tackling climate change has doubled [30 Jun 2008]
The role of signals [26 May 2008]
Revision: Climate Change Policies [10 May 2008]
Carbon Trading - News Update [9 May 2008]
Jeffrey Sachs on Carbon Trading [5 May 2008]
Al Gore’s new presentation [12 Apr 2008]
Carbon prices head higher as emissions targets start to bite [3 Apr 2008]
Interrelated markets and climate change [24 Mar 2008]
Fragile Earth Gallery [18 Mar 2008]
The Big Question looks at carbon trading [11 Mar 2008]
Trading Carbon [18 Feb 2008]
Logging in Alaska - an Environmental Catastrophe? [4 Feb 2008]

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