Discussion:
1.Do you think it is appropriate that the consumer bears part of the burden of pollution fees in the form of higher prices? Why or why not?
2.In the U.S., landowners have the mineral rights to all minerals that might be found under their property (e.g, oil and natural gas). In most European countries, the government, not the property owner, has the rights to any minerals found in the ground. Fracking occurs in several U.S. states, but remains unpopular in Europe. If national governments in other nations agreed to share the profits from fracking with the landowners on whose property the drilling takes place, how might that change attitudes toward the fracking process?
3.Do you think we are a throwaway society? Are your attitudes towards consumption of goods the same as your parents? Your grandparents? (Think of how goods have changed over the years.)
4.A few years ago we became aware that disposable diapers were a major item being put into U.S. landfills. Some communities discussed banning disposable diapers from their landfills. There were protests from parents groups whose members found disposable much more convenient than cloth diapers. Rationally evaluate this policy from both the community environmentalists and the parents groups' viewpoints.
5.Should income in the U.S. be distributed equally? If not, should there be at least a greater degree of equality than we presently have? What are the advantages and disadvantages of greater equality?
6.Which do you feel is more effective in reducing poverty: government poverty programs or economic growth of a nation? How do private charities fit in? Are you an economic conservative or economic liberal when it comes to addressing poverty?