New River Valley Externalities Essay

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Positive and negative externalities have major effects on the marketplace. Externalities, positive and negative, can be seen every day but, most people don’t consider their implications. This diagnostic question shall address some externalities that can be seen in the New River Valley or Allegheny County area and how various market failures exist.

Virginia Tech is a positive externality on the new river valley area. The university enrolls students, employs individuals, and conducts various forms of research. The existence of this University is a positive externality for it inflates the population of the New River Valley area by over thirty thousand individuals for 9 months out of the year. This inflated population allows businesses to thrive in the area. If Virginia Tech closed down, it could be theorized that the New River Valley area would suffer due …show more content…

Westvaco is a paper mill which produces a great deal airborne waste which can be smelled, and seen anywhere within the city. Sediment from Westvaco airborne waste can be seen on the rooftops of homes throughout town. Further, Westvaco also produced waste that is dumped into the Jackson River. This waste has introduced pentachlorophenol (PCPs) in the Jackson River which turns into the James River which runs throughout Virginia. These PCPs affect the health of fish in the entire river which also has caused the Commonwealth of Virginia to issue a warning on the consumption of fish in the James and Jackson rivers. This externality affects fisherman throughout the commonwealth who are not able to eat the fish they catch in the Jackson and James rivers. Further, this externality affects residents within the city of Covington. Although there is no scientific proof to support this theory but, the airborne chemicals expelled from Westvaco cannot be health to the human body and could have significant side effects in the long

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