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A carbon tax?
Posted on: November 19, 2008
It sounds like the possibility of a “carbon tax” is back on the table. We have written on the topic before – but it does not appear that we have laid out what I see as the primary costs and benefits of the different options. As a result, I will do that now. In the […]
Carbon taxes in the NYT
Posted on: March 27, 2008
Lots of people are ripping in to Monica Prasad after her op-ed in the NYT on carbon taxes. She says that Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have had carbon taxes in place since the 1990s, but the tax has not led to large declines in emissions in most of these countries… [T]he insight they provide […]
Carbon taxes again…
Posted on: September 20, 2007
It looks like Matt’s not the only brilliant economist campaigning for Pigovian taxation of carbon emissions. Now Greg Mankiw’s weighed in on the side of taxation. To those who claim a carbon tax is regressive because poor people are forced to live in the suburbs and drive more than the wealthy, Mankiw says Gilbert Metcalf, […]
Carbon taxes for all
Posted on: July 27, 2007
Well, I don’t always agree with Gary Becker but he has a nice post on carbon taxes and why they could be George W Bush’s friend. He says A tax on carbon emissions from business and household production would not only help reduce global warming–by how much is still controversial–but it would also lower the […]
Cap-and-tax vs carbon trading
Posted on: February 21, 2008
The Congressional Budget Office reported recently on its comparison of a cap-and-trade program to a carbon tax program. The one-line conclusion is that carbon taxes are cheaper and simpler, but caps give more certainty.
Poll tax on kids
Posted on: December 11, 2007
Sticking to the recent theme of externality taxes, some researchers from Perth suggested that Australians should ‘fine’ parents for each kid they have above two. Now we know I’m a big fan of externality taxes, but I’m not too sure about this one. As we have already established a carbon trading scheme, this externality tax […]
Caps, taxes and The Man
Posted on: November 6, 2007
Cato’s Regulation magazine has a fairly detailed comparison of cap-and-trade and carbon tax systems in their latest issue. A couple of commentators have interpreted the article as supporting their preference for a cap-and-trade system. They say that the two greatest benefits of taxes are revenue recycling and price stability but claim that the money could […]
It looks like National has decided not to continue with the previous government’s plans to introduce a standard for lightbulb efficiency. They say We want to encourage people to [switch], we think there may be benefits for them to do it, but it should be a choice they make as consumers. It’s a good point: […]
Frog has again attacked economics – however, this time the attack has been painted out in a more substantive manner, a manner that will allow us to actually discuss the methodology of economics and see where this critique fits in. Frog’s claim is that: The neoclassical economic model is failing us. It is based on […]
Over at No Right Turn, Idiot/Savant appears to view the idea of using markets to fight climate change as a touch silly. This view is captured in the following quote (here): What’s important is that we reduce emissions now, not whether our chosen policy is perfect and cleaves to neo-liberal orthodoxy. Now I think this […]
As promised, I will now discuss Queen Bee’s fear that the Emissions trading scheme will limit our ability to take advantage of the wealth gains New Zealand will get from high food prices. First we should accept that there is a liability we have to pay. If anyone wants to comment saying we should just […]
Beer prices rise with the tides
Posted on: April 10, 2008
In the spirit of talking about big issues that affect the little people, NIWA says ordinary NZers should be very worried about climate change: Jim Salinger, a climate scientist at New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, said climate change likely will cause a decline in the production of malting barley in parts […]
Subsidies for driving
Posted on: September 30, 2007
On this blog we’ve talked a lot about how driving is undertaxed and overused. An aspect of this that we haven’t addressed yet is the funding mechanism for roads in New Zealand. At present, government spending on roading exceeds the revenue gained from road taxes. Essentially this means that road use is subsidised by all […]
So the British are increasing the international departure tax, and stating that it is an “externality tax”. What spectacularly wrong-headed logic. The externality they are talking about is “carbon emissions” – now as long as they tax the fuel that airlines use the externality is accounted for, as the carbon emissions stem from fuel use. […]
Compensation and the ETS
Posted on: August 29, 2008
Although the blogs appear to be quite quiet about it, I’ve heard a number of people complaining about the government compensating people for the impact of the emissions trading scheme. Effectively, people who are unhappy about it are telling me that such compensation appears to be pointless as it “cancels out the effect” of pricing […]
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