Many observers believe that the levels of pollution in our economy are too high.

a If society wishes to reduce overall pollution by a certain amount, why is it efficient to have different amounts of reduction at different firms?

b Command-and-control approaches often rely on uniform reductions among firms. Why are these approaches generally unable to target the firms that should undertake bigger reductions?

c Economists argue that appropriate corrective taxes or tradeable pollution rights will result in efficient pollution reduction. How do these approaches target the firms that should undertake bigger reductions?