In my previous Tip, I concluded that the definition of merit and demerit goods is based on a value judgement. In order to make this value judgement I suggested that we needed an approach.
Now it so happens that this approach was handed to us in the workshop in February by Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelman who is one of the authors of the Youth Mayor Field Guide. In the guide she had included the four lenses to look at a city, and we concluded that you could adapt this tool to use it to evaluate policies.
I decided to take it one step backwards, and use it to evaluate goods, in order to deliver a judgement on their merit – or demerit for that matter.
This is how I want to use the four lenses on goods:
Notice that I could replace ‘good’ with ‘policy’, ‘service’, ‘production method’, etcetera. Notice also the link with the social foundation (first column) and the ecological ceiling (last column) of the doughnut framework. Moreover, both boundaries of the doughnut are viewed from two perspectives: local and global, hence ‘four lenses’.
Now let us try this on electric cars, where ‘local’ refers to a country in West-Europe:
| SOCIAL | ECOLOGICAL | |
| LOCAL | Electric cars are more quiet than fossil fuel cars, which is an improvement for everybody.However, this also makes them potentially more dangerous, since you may not hear them coming.Cars in general take up space: parking space, on roads… This will only improve if the number of cars will decrease. Electric cars use even more space, because of the charging posts needed. They are also more expensive than a fossil fuel car in the same category. The difference is diminishing, but at the moment an electric car is not an alternative for people who have to make ends meet. | Driving electric cars does not pollute the air, therefore there will be less air pollution, especially in cities with a lot of traffic. However, cars also take up space, especially electric cars, whereas cities could benefit from more green spaces, urban agriculture, and storage of water during periods of excessive rainfall. These uses compete with the space cars take up. With unchanged policy towards cars, the number of cars are likely to grow. In the Netherlands for example, this number has grown over 36% in the two decades since 2000 and even last year, during lockdown, the number of cars increased over 1.7%. (source: Statline) |
| GLOBAL | Electric cars need to be produced and one of the main features of an electric car is its battery. Since batteries require rare earth metals, electric cars score negative in a social global perspective, because of the labour conditions in mining. Cars in general score negative globally because of resources used. In this ‘deproduction’ of the 1980 VW Beetle, you can see the number of materials used. The production of modern cars uses even more resources: metals, plastic made from fossil fuels, … When demand for these resources grows, they become more scarce and this can make the resources, and the products made from it, less available to people who are not doing well financially. It could also lead to conflicts and (trade) wars. | The production of cars requires resources that are also used in the production of renewable energies, like windmills and solar panels. This creates a ‘crowding out’-risk.Moreover, mining of the resources needed to produce cars in general, but electric cars in particular, causes damage to ecosystems, and creates other ecological hazards. |
As you may have noticed, it is not unambiguous where to put something. When water resources are polluted by mining, this is an ecological hazard, however, this kind of hazards affect the poorest people the most, since their water resources are polluted.
And where do I put an increased wear and tear of roads because of the rise in the weight of cars because of the battery packs?
I have used the four lenses to focus on the societal implications of a good, the things we normally refer to as externalities. But when we evaluate the merit of goods we also have to take the individual merits into account. I use ‘merits’ since I assume the merits will outnumber the demerits – otherwise nobody would buy the good.
When we consider (electric) cars the merit lies in the provision of transport. There are alternatives to cars in that respect, so what is the specific merit of cars in relation to alternatives like a bicycle, going by foot or public transportation from the perspective of an individual.
Cars provide the need for flexible, door to door transportation. When there are no traffic jams, cars are in general the fastest on medium distances. They are also comfortable and in times of a pandemic, safer than alternatives on the same distance. They also provide the possibility to carry cargo, more than a person can carry in public transport.
Thinking along the line of transportation, we can also think of societal benefits of cars. Modes of transportation bring people together, to work and to socialize. When transportation is convenient and fast, it also allows for longer distances between social events and for commutes, as long as people do not have to join a traffic jam. Traffic jams being an externality of transport by car.
Therefore, to be able to do a full evaluation of the merit of a good, it is not enough to look through the four lenses – we also need to look at the need cars and specifically electric cars provide in. This would add a fifth lens to the four lenses: that of the individual – the provision of needs.
(I have put the additions to the table in italics.)
| SOCIAL | INDIVIDUAL | ECOLOGICAL | |
| LOCAL | Electric cars are more quiet than fossil fuel cars, which is an improvement for everybody.However, this also makes them potentially more dangerous, since you may not hear them coming.Cars in general take up space: parking space, on roads… This will only improve if the number of cars will decrease. Electric cars use even more space, because of the charging posts needed. They are also more expensive than a fossil fuel car in the same category. The difference is diminishing, but at the moment an electric car is not an alternative for people who have to make ends meet. Modes of transportation bring people together, to work and to socialize. When transportation is convenient and fast, it also allows for longer distances between social events and for commutes, as long as people do not have to join a traffic jam. Traffic jams being an externality of transport by car. |
Cars provide the need for flexible, door to door transportation. When there are no traffic jams, cars are in general the fastest on medium distances. They are also comfortable and in times of a pandemic, safer than alternatives on the same distance. They also provide the possibility to carry cargo, more than a person can carry in public transport. Electric cars may have a psychological effect: it may change the way other people perceive you or how you perceive yourself. | Electric cars do not pollute the air, therefore there will be less air pollution, especially in cities with a lot of traffic. However, cars also take up space, especially electric cars, whereas cities could benefit from more green spaces, urban agriculture, and storage of water during periods of excessive rainfall. These uses compete with the space cars take up. With unchanged policy towards cars, the number of cars are likely to grow. In the Netherlands for example, this number has grown over 36% in the two decades since 2000 and even last year, during lockdown, the number of cars increased over 1.7%. (source: Statline) |
| GLOBAL | Electric cars need to be produced and one of the main features of an electric car is its battery. Since batteries require rare earth metals, electric cars score negative in a social global perspective, because of the labour conditions in mining. Cars in general score negative globally because of resources used. In this ‘deproduction’ of the 1980 VW Beetle, you can see the number of materials used. The production of modern cars uses even more resources: metals, plastic made from fossil fuels, … When demand for these resources grows, they become more scarce and this can make the resources, and the products made from it, less available to people who are not doing well financially. It could also lead to conflicts and (trade) wars. | The production of cars requires resources that are also used in the production of renewable energies, like windmills and solar panels. This creates a ‘crowding out’-risk.Moreover, mining of the resources needed to produce cars in general, but electric cars in particular, causes damage to ecosystems, and creates other ecological hazards. |
I believe the middle column, provision of needs, is the bridge between the ecological ceiling and the social foundation, both locally and globally. We can give the provision of transport a satisfactory rating, when it keeps both the ecological ceiling and the social foundation in balance.
I did not just make the above up on the spot, but came prepared, since I shared a causal diagram on electric cars and CO2 emissions in a workshop on systems thinking two weeks ago. Therefore I must admit that it is not likely you can walk into your classroom and involve the students in a four, or five, lenses session. They need to do some research on the subject in advance. Therefore I believe it might be interesting to assemble some dossiers on this site to help you with the preparation. I would appreciate it if you could share your thoughts on this – the comment section will close down automatically two weeks after publication of this post.