The Case Against "Smart Taxes" on Carbon

The Case Against “Smart Taxes” on Carbon

Tags: Fiscal Theory, The Environment, Global Economy, Taxes and Spending

04/22/2009 D.W. MacKenzie

Today is Earth day, and a week ago we “celebrated” tax day. It is fitting, in a sense, that Earth Day and Tax Day are only one week apart. Those who blame global warming on human activity see taxation as an effective and desirable means of preventing environmental global catastrophe. In a recent publication, former Bush advisor Greg Mankiw has extended an “open invitation to join the Pigou club” by embracing the idea of regulating greenhouse gases with corrective taxes, writes D.W. MacKenzie.

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