外部性：计算产品的隐性成本
外部性：计算产品的隐性成本
外部性通过包含隐性成本，让你能够核算产品的真实成本
Nivi： 什么是定价错误的外部性？你在上一期节目中提到过它。
Naval： 外部性是指由任何正在生产或消费的产品所施加的额外成本，这些成本没有计入产品的价格中。这种情况可能由多种原因造成。有时你可以通过将成本重新计入价格来解决这个问题。
一些对资本主义最激烈的批评者认为它正在破坏环境。如果你因为资本主义破坏环境而抛弃它，那么猜猜看——我们都将回到前工业时代。那不会是一件好事。
正确为外部性定价比感觉良好的措施更有效
因为环境是有限且珍贵的，我们必须正确为其定价，并将其纳入产品和服务成本中。
如果人们浪费水、向大气中排放碳氢化合物或以其他方式污染环境，社会应该向他们收取清理污染并使环境恢复原始状态所需的费用。也许这个价格必须非常、非常、非常高。
如果你把价格提得足够高，你就能消除污染。这比禁止塑料袋或在干旱期间限制淋浴等感觉良好的措施要好得多。
正确为外部性定价可以极大地节省资源
加利福尼亚州喜欢发布声明和广告，吓唬人们在干旱期间避免淋浴。更好的做法是提高淡水的价格。普通消费者可能要为淋浴多付几美分；但消耗大量水的杏仁种植者会减少用水，杏仁种植可能会转移到国内水资源更丰富的地区。
正确为外部性定价可以极大地节省资源。当你想做诸如保护环境这样的事情时，这是一个很好的框架，而不是做一些感觉良好但实际上毫无意义的事情。
Externalities: Calculating the Hidden Costs of Products
Externalities let you account for the true cost of products by including hidden costs
Nivi: What’s a mispriced externality? You mentioned it on a previous episode.
Naval: An externality is where there’s an additional cost imposed by whatever product is being produced or consumed, that’s not accounted for in the price of the product. This can happen for many reasons. Sometimes you can fix it by putting the cost back into the price.
Some of the most ardent critics of capitalism argue it’s destroying the environment. If you throw away capitalism because it’s destroying the environment, then guess what—we’re all headed back to pre-industrial times. That’s not going to be a good thing.
Pricing externalities properly is more effective than feel-good measures
Because the environment is finite and precious, we have to price it properly and fold that back into the cost of products and services.
If people are wasting water, releasing hydrocarbons into the atmosphere or polluting in other ways, society should charge them what it costs to clean up the pollution and return the environment to a pristine state. Perhaps that price has to be very, very, very high.
If you raise the price high enough, you’ll knock out pollution. That’s much better than feel-good measures like banning plastic bags or restricting showers during a drought.
Properly pricing externalities can save resources in a tremendous way
California likes to run declarations and ads to scare people into avoiding showers during droughts. It would be better to raise the price of fresh water. The average consumer might pay a few pennies more for a shower; but the almond farmers—who consume a lot of water—will cut back and almond farming may move to a part of the country where water is more abundant.
Properly pricing externalities can save resources in a tremendous way. It’s a good framework to use when you want to do things like save the environment, rather than doing feel-good things that won’t actually amount to anything.