Brad DeLong has an interesting post about Internet spam as a form of pollution that benefits polluters but harms the cyberspace environment. I thought it’s an interesting way to take an environmental analogy and apply it to an “unreal” world.

Brad discusses the typical economist solution to the problem – privatize the property being polluted, and presumably the property owner will protect her property. Just as we know that doesn’t always work in the real world, it’s not clear to me whether it will work in the cyberworld.

-Brian