Answer to Question #99998 in Economics for Tricia

Question

Protesters insist that the economic benefits of trade have social costs that go unrecognized.

Whether or not you agree with them, make a list of those social costs.
Open your closet and look at the labels on your clothing and look for the labels on your consumer electronics to see where they were made.
Are you, individually, better off with cheap clothing and electronics? In that context do we owe something to those who bear those social costs
Remember, you must answer the original question and comment on the response of at least two other students to receive full credit for participation.

Answer 1

Yes, I agree with them. Examples of social costs include environmental degradation, congestion, wildlife impacts, and visual degradation. The production or consumption of some products may lead to pollution otherwise known as social cost. Poor people are greatly affected by environmental degradation since they majorly depend on it. If a company fails to pay its external costs, the society will be forced to pay by incurring social costs. I am better off with expensive clothing and electronics simply because cheap products are associated with unpaid social costs. Unless prices and costs include the social costs, the firms will not manufacture socially efficient goods.