Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in a recent post "The
Carbon Tax: Merely a Ploy for Wealth Redistribution?" [Hake (2013)].
The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: In response to my discussion-list post "Would a Carbon Tax
Save Life on Planet Earth?" [Hake (2013)] at
<http://yhoo.it/16ECfUn>, David Marx at <http://bit.ly/14fAjhl> wrote
"Now, we finally get to the real purpose of carbon caps and taxes . .
. . . . . IT'S ALL ABOUT WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION. . . . . " [My CAPS.]
James Hansen, in his article "The American Party" at
<http://huff.to/13gcjcR> had this to say about "wealth/income
redistribution" (paraphrasing): "Yes, the Carbon Tax is progressive:
some ambitious low-income people who pay special attention to their
carbon footprint will be able to save money for other purposes,
wealthy people will pay more in added costs than they receive in the
dividend. However, the added cost to them is small compared with
change of income tax rates -- and lower income tax rates would be
much more likely when the economy improves as the system moves toward
honest pricing of fossil fuels. . . . . . . . . After I spoke to a
group of conservative politicians, one of them said 'THAT'S INCOME
REDISTRIBUTION!' " [My CAPS.]
But not all conservatives are so disposed - see e.g., the WSJ piece
"Why We Support a Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax" at
<http://bit.ly/11ZoaOr>, by George Shultz <http://bit.ly/ZOTqiJ> and
Gary Becker <http://bit.ly/ZtDT5I>, both senior fellows at the
conservative Hoover Institution <http://bit.ly/SPGxwb>.
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REFERENCES [URL shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on 05 June 2013.]
Hake, R.R. 2013. "The Carbon Tax: Merely a Ploy for Wealth
Redistribution?" online on the OPEN! Net-Gold archives at
<http://yhoo.it/13FUcvQ>. Post of 05 Jun 2013 11:23:12-0700 to AERA-L
and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being
transmitted to various discussion lists and are also on my blog
"Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/17pLFCG>.