its own values and decide whether it prefers a choice like P with more economic output and less environmental

protection, or a choice like T with more environmental protection and less economic output.

Economists do not have a great deal to say about the choice between P, Q, R, S and T in Figure 12.5, all of which

lie along the production possibility frontier. Countries with low per capita gross domestic product (GDP), such

as India, place a greater emphasis on economic output—which in turn helps to produce nutrition, shelter,

health, education, and desirable consumer goods. Countries with higher income levels, where a greater share

of people have access to the basic necessities of life, may be willing to place a relatively greater emphasis on

environmental protection.

However, economists are united in their belief that an inefficient choice such as M is undesirable. Rather than
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