Externalities

[11mc22]

I've been talking on Morrakiu's video on why he doesn't favor UHC
There's a guy names thedudefromsomewhere and he brought up externality issues in Health care and the free market
I don't know anything about externalities

and I watched a Milton Friedman video on externalities.

Here are some questions since I don't know jack shit about economics

is this any different from the law of unintended consequences?
and can negative externalities justify government intervention? how about in Health care?
Milton Friedman gave an example of how punishing people who pollute other property is a good way to correct the cost of negative externalities without the need of government regulation.
Can the same be done In health care? without the need of government price controls?

I know... stupid questions but I'd like to hear your thoughts

[Virgil0211]

Externalities is essentially like this- A company shifts the costs of its operation to someone else. An example of this would be if there were two companies along a river. The one upstream dumps some of its garbage into the river which damages the land where the second company operates.

The problem with using externalities as an argument is it doesn't really seem to apply to healthcare, and usually requires a medium to externalize the costs. For example, in the above example, the land is publicly owned. Had the land been privately owned by the first company, dumping in it would damage the value of the land and damage their bottom line. If the land had been owned by the second company, they could sue the first for damaging their property. If the land were privately owned by a third party, they could prevent the first company from using the land in that way and punish them for their activities by making them sign a contract for the use of the land.

Externalities primarily exist where there's a publicly owned method of transference.

Word to the wise, though; don't waste your time arguing with "TheDudeFromSomewhere". He's not worth it. He's not the most ignorant man I've ever met, but definitely one of the worst.