Alex Hummel - Chapter 3

The chapter on externalities is difficult to understand, even with Wheelan's superb examples. As I read more of the chapter I began to understand the concepts better and a particular passage stuck out to me. The passage talked about government regulations and how much they benefit us as Americans. To many people, myself included, the people leading this country seem to be a corrupt den of thieves. From an inside viewpoint, Washington may seem just bad. But looking in from the outside, we see how valuable the greedy capitalist government can be. The government values profits so much that over the years it has made countless organizations to protect itself (by that I mean the rich, of course) and the majority of people and keep both parties alive and comfortable so it can continue to keep making money and hold power. This is envied by foreigners and I guess I never thought it would be something that would be envied. But I understand why it is. Just another example of how perverted but effective our government and economy are- whether we admit it or not.