Office of Negative Externalities
The Office of Negative Externalities (ONE) is a government office operating within the Illuminatia Bureau of Commerce and Trade (BCT). The ONE concerns itself with intervening in situations in which externalities from economic activities which are societally negative or otherwise hazardous to humanity are not accounted for or captured by the self-regulation of the markets.
The ONE is among the entities within the BCT meant to interpose when consequences resulting from trade and commerce do not adequately mitigate the negative effects of commerce and industry that can be inadvertently or negligently imposed upon society as a whole. Illuminatian sensibilities are significantly more responsive to negative externalities resulting from business and industry—particularly in cases involving corporate greed—compared to early modern Earthly civilization, which allowed late-stage capitalism to cause significant mayhem and destruction to the Earth for the benefit of the wealth hoarding of a select few powerful people.
Predominant examples of negative externalities against which the Office of Negative Externalities seeks to protect—in addition to environmental costs—include systemic risks borne unknowingly or without consent of the people, public health risks requiring action by the Department of Health and Wellbeing (DHW), costs associated with regulation which industry and business demonstrate the necessity for, excess use of public infrastructure without proper remuneration to the appropriate entities, excess material and immaterial waste, unwanted communications received by the public, invasion of privacy, unplanned changes to and drift in the usage of the Glossa Communi language risked without regulation by the Department of Language and Lexicology (DLL), alterations to general public perception of reality, and many others. The ONE is responsible for identifying novel negative externalities previously left undefined.
Concerns regarding negative externalities related to the environment are mediated and interfaced-with by the ONE, but are otherwise delegated to the appropriate agencies operating within the Bureau of Natural Resources (BNR), for example the Office of Ecosystem Conservation (OEC), the Office of Atmospheric Conservation (OAC), or the Office of Landscape and Terrain (OLT). Environmental supervision in Illuminatia is a noteworthy portion of the government's protection against economic negative externalities.