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Capitalism must be regarded as an economy of unpaid costs, ‘unpaid’ in so far as a substantial portion of the actual costs of production remains unaccounted for in entrepreneurial outlays; instead they are shifted to, and ultimately borne by, third persons or by the community as a whole.

— Karl William Kapp p. 231. Cited in: Rania Ghosn (2012)

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More quotes by Karl William Kapp

Social costs... are all direct and indirect losses sustained by third persons or the general public as a result of unrestrained economic activities.

p. 12. Cited in: M. Rangone & S. Solari (2012)

Whenever social costs are shifted onto economically and politically weaker sections of society without compensation, a redistribution of the costs of production, hence real income is involved.

Had there been a computer in 1872... it would probably have predicted that there would be so many horse-drawn vehicles that it would be impossible to clear up all the manure.

To ignore social costs because they require an evaluation by society... and to leave social losses out of account because they are 'external' and 'non-economic' in character, would be equivalent to attributing no or ‘zero’ value to all social damages which is no less arbitrary and subjective a judgement than any positive or negative evaluation of social costs.

p. 12. Cited in: M. Rangone & S. Solari (2012)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Karl William Kapp (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.