Externalities caused by Cultural Norms

As an introvert, I am naturally sympathetic to the view Susan Cain expounds in this TED talk (watch 3:14-9:41 if anything). She expresses a concern for certain individuals and society as a whole arising from cultural norms that look down upon introverted tendencies. She seems to be claiming that individuals' natural favoring of the extrovert over the introvert, normally inadvertently by exercising cultural norms, has actually had negative effects on society. Hence, I will relate this clip to externalities. I wish to show, using her evidence and claim, that the individual exercising current societal norms produces a negative externality.

Susan Cain lists some outcomes of our extrovert-favoring culture: introverts are seen as outliers, work is often done in groups, and extroverts are preferred for leadership positions. And she claims that these outcomes are actually negative to society as a whole. Each type of individual supposedly has a "zone of stimulation" that is right for him/her. For introverts, solitude is often their zone. When an introvert is alone, he is better able to maximize his talents and creativity. Today's culture looks down upon those who spend too much time alone, and hence people are dissuaded from enjoying solitude. Yet, that means that a sizable amount of individuals are not encouraged to maximize their talents and creative nature, something that is terrible for society. Again, we are often encouraged to work in groups nowadays. Yet, as shown above, certain people produce better results when working alone. Finally, the natural tendency to prefer extroverts for leadership positions often deprives us of the skills more unique to introverts, carefulness and respect for subordinates' autonomy, for example.

I think this TED talk shows that individuals exercising today's cultural norms are actually producing a negative externality, harmful to society and introverts. If we had a graph with "extroverted tendencies" measured on the x-axis and "value of extroverted tendencies" on the y-axis, we would see that demand is far too high; private marginal benefit, because the individual gains private fulfillment by encouraging extroversion, it being the cultural norm, would exceed social marginal benefit, introverts not capable of living up to their full potential. Hence, there is an external cost we all bear from each of us exercising cultural norms. If we wish to maximize the utility of more individuals, we should change cultural norms somehow to encourage introversion more than we do now.

Considering the Externalities of growth in Washington D.C.

    This article discusses the potential negative and positive production externalities of changing the height restrictions of buildings in Washington D.C. On one hand there's the government who thinks construction would produce a negative production externality in the form of production imposing upon the iconic monument height, and the security that comes with lower buildings in the event of an emergency. They value the city as a place centered around America's government and rich history. In opposition to the government are many consumers who see the positive production externality of producing more real estate in Washington D.C. People argue that great economic growth would come along with the relaxation of the height restrictions.
   The negative production externailities would effect third parties such as people who appreciate the aesthetic beauty of the nations capital as well as current residents of the city. These people see more construction as a negative externality to the current unique environment of Washington D.C free of high rises and large areas of consumption. More construction diminishes the value of the monuments as well as contributes to congestion.Those in opposition to the government and citizens who value the aesthetic aspect of D.C. monuments see a positive production externality from revising the height restriction. Things like diverse architecture, more places for work and business, and more residence areas within the city would allow for the large demand for consumption in the city to be satisfied. The economic growth would cause a positive production externality extending beyond the center of the city. It will be interesting to see how this building restriction issue is resolved. With the government being a large player, internalizing the externality could be a difficult task. It is important to recognize that those involved are thinking like economists as they evaluate the externalities before allowing any changes to be made.