Softball has always been a huge part of my life. The house we used to live in had a batting cage. It was a way for me to practice softball from home. It was a dream come true for parents who hate driving their kid to local ball fields to practice....or so they thought. The cage had a sound system, and I, of course, abused that sound system. I played anything from Mac Miller to Juice World to pump me up when practicing. Why put a sound system in the cage if you don't want the user to jam out? The constant blaring music was an issue. My brother was a tutor for some local middle schoolers. They would come to our house for the massive smart board we had in the basement. Apparently, it was a necessity. The blaring music kept his students from being able to focus. There were eight kids that would come over to get tutored, and I was the reason they're grades weren't improving.
After talking about these negative externalities, I realize that my use of the blaring sound system caused a negative consumption externality for my brother. An article by the Tampa Bay Times replicated a similar issue. My brother couldn't tutor the kids with me blasting music in the backyard. My practice time wasn't going to change, and he was not moving his tutoring time. A Coasian solution could not be pursued, due to the lack of property rights. Neither of us paid for anything in or around that home. The solution could only be resolved by the government, and we had none. Dad was the closest thing to that, and he wanted no part of this fight. The fight still continues to this day. I play music really loud when I am home, and my brother complains.
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