According to the Environment Agency, agricultural runoff remains the largest contributor to the ecological degradation of rivers and lakes. In particular, synthetic chemical fertilizers and intensive livestock waste are estimated to have critically damaged aquatic biodiversity in over 55% of monitored freshwater bodies. In response, the Government has proposed legally binding caps on agricultural chemical usage by 2028.
Assess the view that regulation is a better policy for dealing with the problem of water pollution than the allocation of property rights or taxation.
378 exam-style questions on AQA A Level Economics 1.8 The market mechanism, market failure and government intervention in markets, covering 1.8.1 How markets and prices allocate resources, 1.8.2 The meaning of market failure, 1.8.3 Public goods, private goods and quasi-public goods, 1.8.4 Positive and negative externalities in consumption and production, 1.8.5 Merit and demerit goods, 1.8.6 Market imperfections, 1.8.7 Competition policy (A-level only), 1.8.8 Public ownership, privatisation, regulation and deregulation of markets (A-level only), 1.8.9 Government intervention in markets, and 1.8.10 Government failure. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.