Polar ice cap shrinks further and thins With global warming of the planet, the polar ice cap is shrinking. As the Arctic Sea expands, more underwater mineral resources will be accessible

Question

Countries are staking out territorial claims to parts of the polar region. Source: The Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2009 Explain how ownership of these mineral resources will influence the amount of damage done to the Arctic Sea and its wildlife.

Answer 1

The Arctic Sea minerals might be privately owned or government owned. Regardless of who owns them, mining minerals creates pollution and disturbs marine life habitat, which have external costs.
If the minerals are privately owned, then the quantity mined will be the amount that sets the marginal private cost equal to the marginal private benefit. This quantity will have a deadweight loss because the marginal social cost exceeds the marginal private cost.
If the minerals are government owned, then their allocation will be by majority vote. Lobbyists will pressure elected officials to adopt their posi-tion in return for help with reelection. In this case, "green" lobbyists and "business" lobbyists likely will square off. If the greens prevail, there is a possibility that no minerals will be mined. This situation has a deadweight loss because less than the efficient quantity is mined. If the business groups prevail, then there might be significant amounts mined. This situation, similar, to the case of private ownership, has a deadweight loss because of overuse of the minerals. The outcome is either efficient or inefficient depending on the strength of the opposing lobby groups.