Verbull Word of the day
Finance glossary

Externality

Economics · intermediate
Definition

A cost or benefit affecting third parties not involved in a transaction.

An externality is a side effect of economic activity borne by people outside the deal. Pollution is a negative externality; a neighbor well-kept garden is a positive one. Because markets ignore them, governments use taxes, subsidies, or regulation to correct the imbalance.

In a sentence

Factory pollution is a negative externality, imposing costs on neighbors who had no part in the sale.

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