In this example Op2, how is a "positive externality" not created by the property owners who are benefiting from increased property values due to others improving their particular property?
Seems to me he (author) is arguing against himself when he says the following:
"A positive externality occurs if an activity creates benefits for
uninvolved people.
Examples of positive externalities: People who get vaccinations against a
communicable disease reduce other people’s chances of getting the disease.
People who improve their property may create benefits for their neighbors by
creating a more pleasing neighborhood and increasing property values"
So clearly some people are both involved (those improving their personal property) and those receiving the benefit of increased property values as a result. So who's uninvolved in this example? Who gets the benefits from the improved property values? When does that not occur?
This is pure collectivism, and Socialist redistributive thought. It is NOT the way cost/benefit analysis is accurately measured because it takes an unrealistic view of private decision making being driven by nothing other than an individual's personal desires...no other factors enter into the equation or are necessary for any one person in the example to make a decision to improve their property except for their own personal gain or pleasure. There are no other considerations, and no one remains "uninvolved" as a result of any other one's decision. Not every property will benefit, some may some won't. "Uninvolved" means nothing other than private choice. It's not a zero sum gain or net loss no matter what anyone else decides.
As I read the rest of that analysis you linked me to, it became more obvious to me that this author is indeed a pure Socialist, who doesn't see the market as a dynamic, but rather as a limited controlled environment in which all individual decisions must be "managed" for a greater Social or public good...irrespective of the impact on any oneindividual's private market choice preferences. He doesn't see individual choice on the part of businesses or consumers as important as those parties making choices for the most public benefit, or at least being forced to. Collectivism.
So I'm not surprised you think as you do if you're soaking your brain up reading exegesis like that Dude?
Try this guy:
http://www.investopedia.com/updates/adam-smith-wealth-of-nations/