With no carbon tax,
Nor any transactions tax,
It’s not serious.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com View all posts by Mark Kleiman
I agree on the carbon tax. Just about everybody in the business thinks it (or auctioned permits) is necessary for global warming AND an enormous money-raiser. But I think you're wrong on the transactions tax. Simpson-Bowles was tasked with balancing the budget, not using tax incentives to create desirable behavior. Like the estate tax, the transaction tax is much better at creating good behavior than raising the big bucks.
Hey! 15 cents a gallon on gasoline! It's not John Anderson, I grant you… my vote is a dollar a liter on gasoline. raises lots of money, cuts congestion on the roads, and encourages small cars.