The standard economic argument in favour of a uniform carbon price is efficiency – all agents face the same marginal cost of pollution. Such a price can be achieved either by an emissions trading (cap-and-trade) system or by imposing a tax. This column argues that whether a uniform policy or a mixture of both is optimal depends on a few factors, and most importantly on the nature of stochastic shocks affecting the economy.
Bernard Caillaud, Gabrielle Demange, 06 October 2015
Charles Kolstad, Corbett Grainger, 29 August 2009
Opponents of US climate change legislation voice concerns about its effect on consumers in coal-reliant states, industries’ competitiveness, and regressive distributional consequences. This column argues that these concerns are either unfounded or have been addressed fairly. It says the conflict is more about ideology than distributional issues.
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