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Study Notes

Public Bads

Level:
A-Level
Board:
AQA, Edexcel, IB, OCR

Last updated 8 May 2023

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A public bad has negative effects (externalities) on people and their communities leading to a significant loss of social welfare

Examples of public bads include:

  • The spread of infectious diseases such as Ebola
  • Modern slavery / human trafficking
  • Environmental threats to the global commons
  • Gender and other forms of discrimination in labour markets
  • Disposal of household and commercial waste
  • Web viruses / denial of service attacks
  • High rates of global inequalities of income and wealth
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