Over the centuries governments have again and again restricted or even abolished the rights of private property. At other times the law, either by design or default, shielded the owner from some disadvantages of his property, and charged other people with some of the costs, the external costs. Obviously, if an owner does not reap all the benefits of his property, he will disregard such benefits in his actions; and if he is not charged with all its costs, he will ignore such costs.
 

– Hans F. Sennholz