The Polluter Never Pays

This lecture examines the persistent tension between economic growth and human health through the lens of legislative failure. Honouring Rachel Carson’s early warnings about the mirage of industrial safety, we trace how corporate liability is externalised while the management of chronic disease becomes a lucrative entry on the economic ledger.

This lecture reframes regulation as an engine for innovation, advocating for the mandatory embedding of untold consequences into the delivery of new products and infrastructure. By championing “Safe by Design,” Professor Mudway argues rigorous legislation is the catalyst for an economic model focused on prevention and the protection of public health, asserting that human health is the only sustainable foundation for a modern sustainable economic model.