5 ms·
Advocates of real free markets want a carbon tax. Externalities are a real problem and there is a lot of economics research on how to deal with it. The issue is
by kfk 7y ago
Advocates of real free markets want a carbon tax. Externalities are a real problem and there is a lot of economics research on how to deal with it. The issue is that “right wing” has passed to signify “liberal”. There is nothing less liberal, or capitalistic, than most of the current right wing parties in western countries.
- chewz 7y agoCarbon tax is terrible idea. We have a science proving that it won't work. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lucas_Jr https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Lucas_Jr. Pseudo-market solutions do not work. They are quickly gamed by market players. It would be just a waste of precious time.
- VorticesRcool 7y agoThat link does not say anything about science or a carbon tax. What did that economist have to say about it?
- chewz 7y agoLucas got Noble prize for proving that market participants game new rules faster then regulators introduce them. Pseudo-market solutions in healtcare (pricing procedures with ICD and allowing market participants compete) are currently proved as inefficient. Net gain for market participants but net loss for people and goverment budgets. So my reservation is for carbon tax as gigantic wealth transfer without real benefits to climate. I am not against urgent action on climate.
- graeme 7y agoIs a tax a regulation in that sense? I’m wary of non-tax responses to climate change for the reasons you suggest, I think they’re easy to game. But with a tax you can only evade. The income tax still raises revenue and discourages income, even though it can be evaded and often is. I think a carbon tax would similarly raise revenue and discourage carbon, while letting us cut worse taxes like the carbon tax.
- llukas 7y ago> We have a science proving that it won't work. I think physicists can say they proven something but it is in principle debatable. Economy is just witchcraft in comparison - please do not give economy more credibility than it deserves.
- TelmoMenezes 7y ago> I think physicists can say they proven something Not even them. It only makes sense to talk about proof in formal domains such as math and logic. Science proves nothing. It is impossible to prove that any given scientific theory will not be falsified in the future. In fact, physics was one of the main inspirations for the idea of "paradigm shift" by Thomas Kuhn in his famous work "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions". Talking about proof in science is damaging, and it conveys the wrong idea about what science actually is.
- belorn 7y agoLooking at (https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/2207/economics/carbon-tax-pros-and-cons/ https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/2207/economics/carbon-tax...) the primary argument against Carbon tax is that companies will somehow tax evade even more than in the past, and companies will move to more tax friendly companies than they already do. Is there an argument against carbon tax that can't be said by any other tax?
- DennisP 7y agoThe easy way to implement a carbon tax is to tax at major sources, like coal mines and oil wells, and let the producers pass on the cost to everyone else. It's not terribly difficult to assess the amount of coal produced by a mine. It's also fairly difficult to move a coal mine to another country. Of course, people could import their carbon-intensive goods, but most proposals include tariffs on countries without comparable carbon fees. Tariffs like these are explicitly allowed by trade agreements.
- chewz 7y agoThe objective of carbon tax is to give incentives to market participants and let the market to the job. In my opinion it will result in creating huge wealth transfers with much real benefit to the climate. I would rather side with Naomi Klein that capitalism proved ineffective in solving problems of this scale.
- anonuser123456 7y agoSo decide by fiat it doesn't work rather than run the experiment?
- Scarblac 7y agoRationing then. What else?