Externalities: Week of 4/26/10

Superheroes fight crime and save lives. But by doing so they impose certain costs on people not directly involved. These are superhero externalities.

Rather than do a separate "externalities" post for each disaster, I thought I might try sharing all of the best ones from the week in a single post.

Here we go:

Uncanny X-Men #523 by Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson, Marvel Comics (2010)

Cable and Hope are on the run from Bastion, a "super-sentinel from the future hellbent on exterminating all mutants." Bastion's goons have tracked the pair of heroes to a little motel and have begun to surround the joint.

The only way out? Heavy destruction of city and personal property, of course.

Wolverine: Weapon X #12 by Jason Aaron and Ron Garney, Marvel Comics (2010)

Hate waiting for the subway? Bet you would hate it even more if the A train was regularly delayed by underground superhuman battles.

Here we have Captain America attempting to escape an army of Deathloks, powerful Terminator-like cyborgs sent back in time from the future to eliminate the superheroes that would one day pose a threat to their reign. The chase leads Cap down into a subway station, where a group of innocent bystanders are trying to get home from work.

Oops.

Ultimate Avengers #6 by Mark Millar and Carlos Pacheco, Marvel Comics (2010)

Ultimate Captain America is not faring much better. Currently, he is using his ship to teleport around the world in search of the evil Red Skull. Too bad his flight skills are getting in the way.

This is, of course, a Mark Millar comic, so there is no shortage of pointless destruction. What's particularly fascinating here is how little Captain America seems to care about this blatant destruction and potential harm of others individuals.

Anything to get the job done, I suppose.

Amazing Spider-Man #628 by Roger Stern and Lee Weeks, Marvel Comics (2010)
Click to See More

Ah, a classic maneuver. During an airborne chase/battle, Spider-Man and Captain Universe crash through the window of a health club, damaging not only the window, but some expensive equipment. And they're not even members!

Interestingly enough, Spider-Man actually recognizes that innocent people might be getting hurt during the battle. Following this episode at the health club, he leads Captain Universe to an abandoned field so that the two could continue fighting, while only imposing minimal damage to third parties. It's nice to see that Spider-Man has a sense about these things, as opposed to, say, Ultimate Captain America.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 #34 by Brad Meltzer and Georges Jeanty,
Dark Horse Comics (2010)
Click to See More: WARNING: SLAYER/VAMPIRE LOVE-MAKING

I saved the best for last. If you're a Buffy fanatic and have not yet heard the identity of Twilight, then you should turn away from this post immediately because here comes the MASSIVE SPOILER. I'm serious.

OK, it's Angel. Buffy and Angel have been reunited at last. The first thing they do, obviously, is have some sex. Sounds innocent enough. Hell, they've done it before and the only result was an evil Angel.

Here's the problem. Buffy has recently been granted extra superhuman powers, which she was able to harness from recently fallen slayers. Meanwhile, Angel is, um, pretty powerful too. Apparently, when two especially powerful beings like Buffy and Angel get it on, the universe reacts. And not in a good way.

Remember the infamous love scene between Superman and Wonder Woman in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Strikes Again? This is even worse. To balance out the enormous surge of power, the universe has to kill off a bunch of life or energy or something. Honestly, I'm not exactly clear yet what's going on. But Giles was not subtle in saying that Buffy's happiness is uncontroversially bad for the world. Tidal waves. Volcanic eruptions. The works.

That's right. Buffy and Angel want to be happy. The only cost is on the rest of the world. I'd say that's a pretty big externality.

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Are Vampires Good for the Economy?

Michael Ian Black seems to think so. In his book, My Custon Van, he argues that cape manufacturers, garlic farmers, coffin makers, and angry villagers (by this he means suppliers of tools such as torches, spikes and crosses) would see net growth. Furthermore, he discusses the notion of a "vampire tax" or the idea that vampires would be more likely to attack individuals of lower socioeconomic backgrounds, who have less adequate means of protecting against an attack. This, he argues, would serve to reduce spending on social welfare programs, such as Medicaid, since more lower-income individuals enroll in these programs.

Although he predicts net losses to the makers of fake plastic and wax vampire teeth as well as the travel and tourism industries, he concludes that a small to moderate vampire army would be beneficial for the economy in the long-run and offset any potential short-run losses.

I would like to add a few things to this argument.

First, there are other industries that have the potential to grow. One is, of course, the insurance industry. Much like with supernatural disaster insurance, people will want compensation in the event of vampires destroying their homes, their cars, and most of all, their pets. And what about insurance against actually becoming a vampire? Vampires have things to buy. They still live in homes, which means they have mortgages to pay, utilities bills, car insurance payments, etc. Unlike zombies, vampires do not just walk around lusting for brains and losing body parts. They are actually capable of blending in with humans, holding intelligent conversation, and engaging in rational thought. They are also capable of deriving enjoyment from television, music, books, clothing, and others. Therefore they are likely to make some purchases for entertainment and luxury in addition to necessity.

However, turning into a vampire greatly limits your potential to make such purchases. First of all, if you had a day job as a human being, you can forget going to work. You need to find a night job, which is likely to be in a field in which you have no particular training or interest. And you would have to spend more money to acquire that training. Furthermore, even if you do secure a job that you enjoy, you would have to hide the fact that you are a vampire, for there would likely be some social stigma attached to that particular "life"-style. It would therefore be much harder to actually get a job.

All of this is to say that, assuming a predominantly private insurance market, the industry would thrive with the existence of vampires. Of course, there would be the potential for insurance fraud (people turning into vampires on purpose).

Secondly, I highly doubt that the makers of fake plastic and wax vampire teeth would suffer. In fact, I think they would dramatically expand. The thing is that, much like with many minority segments of the population, vampires would be the subject of a perpetual societal prejudice. However, there would also be a significant boost in the civil rights movement, which might eventually lead to surges in the entertainment industry. This is precisely what happened in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8. Harmony, an evil vampire in the Buffyverse, signed a contract with MTV to star in a reality show about vampires. Once the show became a hit, people became more accepting of vampires and more critical of vampire slayers, who were likened to fascists.

Thus, movies about vampire underdogs and toy vampires would gross lots of money. Imagine Rocky taking on Apollo Creed, only if Apollo was an evil slayer and Rocky was an innocent vampire.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #21 by Jane Espenson and Georges Jeanty (2009)

Finally, I am skeptical of the "vampire tax" argument. The costs of acquiring the means of killing a vampire are relatively low. All it really requires is a piece of wood. I think that any socioeconomic death bias would be marginal at best. Also, wouldn't there be increased spending on social programs for vampires? I imagine if there will be private vampire insurance, there might also be public vampire insurance for the low-income vamps.

And how exactly would Medicare and social security work? Vampires are immortal and most are hundreds of years old. After 65, would they just collect on social security for hundreds of years? That would certainly affect public spending. Or would vampires be completely cut out of the system (which would raise civil rights concerns)?

It turns out that the question of whether vampires are good for the economy is more complicated than we think and riddled with questions. Should vampires be integrated into the system? What would be the effect on the labor force? Will the benefits in the aforementioned industries offset the losses to the labor force?

What do you think?

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