Congress pursues externalities one at a time. The resulting legislation embodies the same sequential approach, instructing regulatory agencies to set and enforce standards for a single problem. Rarely, if ever, are agencies instructed or even permitted to account for contradictions with other federal legislation and rulemaking.

Few economists are aware of a wonderful problem. While climatologists claimed it first, the twists and turns make- the problem appear almost as if it were devised to show off the tools and controversies of microeconomics. Even more astounding is the fact that such an abstract, long-term problem excites the interest of the general public and media, and even politicians who desire more resources 1O be spent on research.

One externality which has received little attention from economists is that connected with congestion (a recent treatment is Strotz, 1965). An increase in the utilization of a facility can result in longer waiting time or in a less appealing service. For example, an increased number of tows on a water- way can give rise to greater delays at locks; a larger crowd at a beach can lead to a lower satisfaction for each "customer." The former case, which involves production, is particularly complex. Here, delay is caused either by the random arrival of customers or by a random service (production) rate. Serving tows at a lock is analogous to serving shoppers at a super- market checkout stand. Similar problems occur with respect to allocating docking facilities in a port, runways and terminals in an airport, land to streets in an industrial park, and machines in a job shop

The cost of government regulation of the automobile has been the subject of heated controversy since its inception in the mid- 1960's. Much of this controversy has centered on the costs and benefits of individual regulations, but there has been little attention paid to the overall effect of emissions and safety regulation. In this paper, we attempt to measure the effect of these regulatory policies upon the consumer cost of owning and operating an automobile.