The Problem of Intra-Personal Cost

Abstract

"Externalities," or harms to others, provide a standard justification for government intervention in the private market. There is less agreement over whether government is justified in correcting "internalities," or harms we inflict on our own health or well-being. While some of the internality dispute is philosophical, some is practical. Critics suggest government lacks information to regulate internalities, and that any intervention would inefficiently distort a private market for self-help. This Article argues that these critiques of regulation overlook well-established tools of externality regulation, as well as a burgeoning literature on the measurement of internalities.