The Economic Way of Thinking 13th Edition by David Prychitko, Peter Boettke, Paul Heyne

Exercise 16

Many large urban airports have established programs for buying out those homeowners most seriously affected by airport noise.
(a) Do people who own houses directly under an approach route and within 5,000 feet of the runway deserve compensation for the noise made by planes landing or taking off? If you think they do, ask yourself where you will draw the line. What about people whose homes are 15,000 feet from the beginning of the runway, or who live very close to, but not quite under the approach route?
(b) If the owner is renting the house out, should it be the owner or the tenants who receive compensation? Why?
(c) Are current owners the appropriate people to compensate? Wasn't a current owner compensated in the purchase price if the house was bought within the past few years?
(d) What difference does it make in your answer to the previous question whether it was generally believed when the house changed hands that the airport would buy out those homeowners most severely affected by the noise?