Economics of the Public Sector Essay

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Sustaining Mexico City 's Air by Expanding Hoy No Circula

Environmental sustainability is not only a gargantuan social concern but it is also a major economic issue because the costs of losing much of our environmental resources are quite higher in the long run if we do not apply measures to curb environmental degradation . Economics can indeed have a pivotal role in solving environmental problems because in dealing with the environment we will need to reallocate our resources in directions that generally

move from consuming and growing in positive economic ways to preserving and living with economic slowdowns . Although it is not difficult to come up with a plan to reduce pollution , the implementing and the minimizing the economic costs of such government policy will be a tough balancing act . This is why , not all government environmental policies have been all-out success because it is not easy to align market interests with environmentalism

Seeking to improve the declining air quality , a policy in Mexico City was introduced in 29 November 1989 called Hoy No Circula (HNC , which limited most drivers from using their vehicles one weekday per week on the basis of the last digit of the vehicle 's license plate (Davis 2008 . Although the intuition of such government intervention over an environment issue is quite remarkable , it seems the policy has not been successful because Mexico City 's air quality is still way beyond the World Health Organization 's (WHO ) recommended 8-hour...