The Problem of Social Cost
1960 · paper · Economics
Examines business actions that harm others, such as factory smoke, and challenges the traditional view that the harming party should be liable, taxed or excluded. It argues the problem is reciprocal, since avoiding harm to one party harms another, and the aim is avoiding the more serious harm.
Checked: PDF from josephmahoney.web.illinois.edu, fetched 5 Oct 2026. Page numbers are those of that PDF.
0 findings
None that passed a second check.
16 minor (typos and the like; most checked by the judge only)
Wording The railway recapitulation says "or to install smoke-preventing devices", whereas the setup on p.31 twice says "spark-preventing devices".
- p. 35 Section VIII, para 2
or a faster train or to install smoke-preventing devices
- p. 32 Section VIII
to install spark-prevent- ing devices on its engines
- p. 35 Section VIII, 'How is it that the Pigovian analysis...'
or to install smoke-preventing devices
- p. 32 Railway example
to install spark-prevent-
Judge's note: Both passages were checked in the images. The p.34 sentence explicitly restates the railway decision, so the change of term is inconsistent.
Second check: another model agreed
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Typo Subject–verb disagreement: "The conclusions to which this kind of analysis seems to have led most economists is that" (plural subject, singular verb).
- p. 2 Section I, para 1
The conclusions to which this kind of analy
Judge's note: The page image shows the sentence as printed. It is a grammatical slip only and does not change the meaning.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo Footnote 6 prints "Fontainebleu Hotel Corp."
- p. 9 Footnote 6
See Fontainebleu Hotel Corp. v. Forty-Five Twenty-Five, Inc.
- p. 9 p.8, footnote 6
Fontainebleu Hotel Corp.
Only the authors can say what is right here.
Judge's note: Rests on outside knowledge: that the case and hotel name is spelled "Fontainebleau". The page image shows "Fontainebleu" as printed.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo PDF p.11 (journal p.10): "a forge operating on a barren moor, which was later developed for residual purposes" — 'residual' should be 'residential'.
- p. 11 Sturges v. Bridgman discussion, para 1
which was later developed for residual pur-
- p. 11 p.10, Sturges v. Bridgman discussion
later developed for residual pur-
Judge's note: In the crop the printed word is 'residual'. The same paragraph has 'development of land for residential purposes' and 'preserve the areas (Wimpole Street or the moor) for residential or professional use', so 'residential' is the intended word. This is a misprint in the published text, not an extraction artefact.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo "then the planitiff might lose all her clients" – misspelling of "plaintiff".
- p. 24 Andreae v. Selfridge quotation
then the planitiff
Judge's note: The misspelling is visible in the image. The same quotation spells "plaintiff" correctly a few lines earlier.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo Footnote 27 cites "30 Halsbury, Law of England", whereas footnote 41 and the text use "Laws of England".
- p. 25 Footnote 27
See 30 Halsbury, Law of England 690-91
- p. 31 Footnote 41
See 31 Halsbury, Laws of England 474-75
Judge's note: Both footnote images were checked. The same work is cited under two different titles.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo "by an elctric tramway" – misspelling of "electric".
- p. 25 Halsbury quotation
graph system by an elctric tramway
- p. 25 p.24, list of freedom from liability
an elctric tramway
Judge's note: The misspelling is visible in the image.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo "An action has been held not to be against a body exercising its statutory powers" appears to lack "lie" ("not to lie against").
- p. 25 Halsbury quotation
An action has been held not to be against a body exercising its statutory powers
Only the authors can say what is right here.
Judge's note: The sentence is printed as quoted and is ungrammatical. The preceding quotation uses the idiom "no action will lie". It cannot be checked against the Halsbury source from these files.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo Number disagreement inside quotations: "for a specific purposes" (Halsbury, p.24) and "its purposes is essentially practical" (Pigou, p.29).
- p. 25 Halsbury quotation
for a specific purposes
- p. 30 Pigou quotation
its purposes is essentially practical
Judge's note: Both phrases are visible in the images. They are ungrammatical as printed and are probably transcription slips.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo "the escape of sewage: the subsidence of a road" – a colon where every other item in the list is separated by a semicolon.
- p. 25 p.24, Halsbury list
the escape of sewage: the subsidence
Judge's note: The colon is visible in the image. It may reproduce the source's punctuation.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo "the construction of the airport was autorized by statute" – misspelling of "authorized".
- p. 26 Delta Air v. Kersey discussion
construction of the airport was autorized by stat
- p. 26 p.25, Delta Air Corp. discussion
was autorized by
Judge's note: The misspelling is visible in the image. The same page spells "authorized" correctly elsewhere.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo PDF p.26: "the construction of the airport was autorized by statute" — 'autorized' should be 'authorized'. ('statate' is only an extraction artefact; the page prints 'statute'.)
- p. 26
autorized by statate, the judge next referred
Judge's note: In the crop the page prints 'autorized', which is a real misspelling; the same page spells it 'authorized' elsewhere ('expressly authorized', 'construction authorized'). The second word reads 'statute' on the image (with an odd glyph on the u), so the reviewer's 'statate' comes from the text layer. Confirmed for 'autorized' only.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo "seems irresistable" – misspelling of "irresistible".
- p. 33 Railway example
should be made liable for the damage seems irresistable
- p. 33 Railway example paragraph
seems irresistable
Judge's note: The misspelling is visible in the image.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo "something of a legal curiousity" – misspelling of "curiosity".
- p. 37 Boulston's case discussion
something of a legal curiousity
Judge's note: The misspelling is visible in the image.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo Footnote 49 prints "the common law in the United State regarding liability"; it should be "United States".
- p. 37 p.36, footnote 49
in the United State regarding liability for animals
- p. 37 p.36, footnote 49
Williams, up. cit. supra 227
Judge's note: The image confirms "United State". The second part of the finding does not hold: the image shows italic "op. cit. supra 227", so the reported "up. cit." is an extraction artefact.
Second check: none (judge only)
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Typo "moved elesewhere" – misspelling of "elsewhere".
- p. 42 Smoke tax example
moved elesewhere or made other adjustments
- p. 42 p.41, smoke factory example
moved elesewhere
Judge's note: The misspelling is visible in the image.
Second check: none (judge only)