In: Economics
Describe a situation where you experienced a positive or negative externality or free-riding by you or someone else. Why are these situations problematic?
Me going out on my bicycle for a ride, and all the cars that were running on the road is a clear case of negative externality. The fumes from the car reduces my net social benefit as marginal social cost is higher because of the cars running on the road, polluting the environment.
These situations are problematic simply because the equilibrium conditions are not socially optimal.