well, my presumption is that right now, if you try to introduce talk about a permanent $2 tax into mainstream political discourse, people will come after you with pitchforks.
instead, what i am proposing is that one take advantage of the current price rise to institutionalize current changes in behavior, and use taxation and stockpiling to guarantee that a politically feasible portion of the current price rise will, in real terms, be permanent. another way of putting it: i think there is a social benefit in squashing the notion that prices will ever return to their previous low. On 6/12/08, Jim Devine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > what about imposing a permanent $2 per gallon tax on gasoline, sort of > like in Europe? That would guarantee high demand for alternatives w/o > undermining the incentive to produce the stuff (since so much of the > price represents "something for nothing" scarcity rents that arise not > from the cost of production but from the temporary and/or artificial > and/or long-term scarcity of the item). > > > Robert Naiman wrote: > > > > i saw an item recently about how consumers were finally shifting their > > behavior in response to the increase in gas prices - changing the cars they > > buy, getting rid of cars, switching to public transportation. > > > > it made me reflect on the thought that from a orthodox economist's point of > > view, there's no environmental policy that can match correct prices. yammer > > about conservation til you're blue in the face. move prices enough, and > keep > > them there, and if people believe that the change is permanent, they will > > move. > > > > part of the story about lack of investment in alternatives to oil has been > > that the price of oil was so low, that the alternatives weren't profitable. > > and even when the price of oil reached the theoretical tipping point, > > investors were still skittish, because these are long-term investments, and > > if the price of oil falls again you're going to take a bath. > > > > so what if the government could guarantee these investors that the price of > > oil in the united states will never fall below a certain level? > > > > suppose the government were to announce today: from now until forever, a > > gallon of gas will never sell in the united states for less than two > > dollars, and a barrel of oil will never sell for less than fifty dollars, > in > > 2008 dollars. if the market price falls below that, we will push it up > > through taxation and stockpiling. > > > > it wouldn't do anything to help consumers today. but it wouldn't hurt them > > either. now people are groaning about $4. if it were $2 they'd have a big > > party. > > > > but it would assure investors that any investment that's profitable at $50 > a > > barrel will always be profitable. > > > > folks have adjusted to the idea that gas is more than $2 a gallon. why not > > put that change in behavior in the bank for all time? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pen-l mailing list > > pen-l@lists.csuchico.edu > > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > > > > > > > > -- > Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own > way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > pen-l@lists.csuchico.edu > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list pen-l@lists.csuchico.edu https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
