I just got off the phone from an interview with Bob Carson from FM 107.7 in New Jersey--I think it's a college radio station (Rider University), but hey, it's FM and I'm a publicity whore.  Talked mostly gas tax, carbon tax and cap and trade.  I hammered away at t...

Yesterday, Dave Roberts at Grist posted his strong (extreme?) views on economists' influence on public policy--environmental policy in particular.  Rather than resort to my usual sarcastic responses, I'm going to try to put together a cohesive substance-filled argument as to why this g...

Grist, making my case: This may piss off some people I respect a great deal. Nonetheless, after hearing it in several off-the-record conversations in D.C. last week, I believe it's something that needs to be said publicly: The 111th U.S. Congress is not going to pass a carbon tax. Calls for a ca...

Via Drudge: Exxonmobil corp., the world's largest crude oil refiner, supports taxing carbon dioxide as the most efficient way of curbing greenhouse gas emissions, its chief executive said. "As a businessman, it's hard to speak favourably about any new tax, but a carbon tax strikes me as a more ...

Yesterday, John linked to (a slimmed down) Mike Moffatt's post on Bryan Caplan's take on negative externalities and the Pigou Club (follow that?).  Caplan says: My view is that people have a right to create all sorts of negative externalities, and other people basically just have to live with t...

Bear with me, this has a relevant point to it...sort of. In my spare time, I coach.  Mainly softball and baseball, but I've also helped with soccer and basketball (both of which I'm not very good at).  Last night, my 11 year old daughter subbed for a local travel softball team that was sho...

Sounds like it: "For all of the last century, the profit motive basically led in one direction - toward machines, methods and industries that used oil and gas," said McCain. "Enormous good came from that industrial growth, and we are all the beneficiaries of the national prosperity it...

Mankiw: Carbon tax vs cap-and-trade. Where have I seen that headline before? But seriously, the mainstream economics blogs are hitting the climate change policy issue very hard. And it seems like we hit it really hard in 2007. Every time I read a mainstream blog dealing with climate policy I feel li...