"::This sentence is accurate then: approach or approximate means ""not quite"" expected costs. A good article from the law and economics school on this is Coase's Problem of Social Cost - the eventual outcome will depend, as he points out, on the negotiating skill of the parties.
Again, THF has a clear conflict of interest, and his comments should best be disregarded. He is not interested in improving, only trashing this article.  

"