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In Defense of Sport

While asserting that progressives have traditionally been skeptical of sport, Bhaskar Sunkara argues that liberals should embrace athletic contests: None of these qualms are wrong. They’re just missing something—the ecstasy so many get from watching sports, a joy that can’t be reduced to “false consciousness.” Beyond betraying an ascetic disdain for something a large part of […]

January 8, 2013/by dpogreba

Pigovian Taxes and Carbon Emissions

Daily Wisdom

Elizabeth Kolbert, writing in the New Yorker, makes the case for taxes on carbon emissions. Along the way, she explained a fascinating concept of taxation, Pigovian taxes: It’s been almost a century since the British economist Arthur Pigou floated the idea that turned his name into an adjective. In “The Economics of Welfare,” published […]

January 7, 2013/by dpogreba

In Defense of Sport

Daily Wisdom

January 8, 2013/by dpogreba

Pigovian Taxes and Carbon Emissions

Daily Wisdom

January 7, 2013/by dpogreba

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In Defense of Sport

Daily Wisdom

While asserting that progressives have traditionally been skeptical of sport, Bhaskar Sunkara argues that liberals should embrace athletic contests:

None of these qualms are wrong. They’re just missing something—the ecstasy so many get from watching sports, a joy that can’t be reduced to “false consciousness.” Beyond betraying an ascetic disdain for something a large part of humanity finds pleasure in, too many progressives see sports ahistorically, unable to envision them in a different context.
With roots in English public schools and other unsavory places, organized sport was originally an elite phenomenon, but the early working class made no such errors. Taking advantage of the free time guaranteed by the eight-hour day, workers began to democratize games like soccer and rugby. Before long, major social democratic parties across Europe were using sporting clubs and festivals to construct working-class identity and promote solidarity.

January 8, 2013/by dpogreba

Pigovian Taxes and Carbon Emissions

Daily Wisdom

Elizabeth Kolbert, writing in the New Yorker, makes the case for taxes on carbon emissions. Along the way, she explained a fascinating concept of taxation, Pigovian taxes:

It’s been almost a century since the British economist Arthur Pigou floated the idea that turned his name into an adjective. In “The Economics of Welfare,” published in 1920, Pigou pointed out that private investments often impose costs on other people. Consider this example: A man walks into a bar. He orders several rounds, downs them, and staggers out. The man has got plastered, the bar owner has got the man’s money, and the public will get stuck with the tab for the cops who have to fish the man out of the gutter. In Pigou’s honor, taxes that attempt to correct for this are known as Pigovian, or, if you prefer, Pigouvian (the spelling remains wobbly). Alcohol taxes are Pigovian; so are taxes on cigarettes. The idea is to incorporate into the cost of what might seem a purely personal choice the expenses it foists on the rest of society.

One way to think about global warming is as a vast, planet-wide Pigovian problem. In this case, the man pulls up to a gas pump. He sticks his BP or Sunoco card into the slot, fills up, and drives off. He’s got a full tank; the gas station and the oil company share in the profits. Meanwhile, the carbon that spills out of his tailpipe lingers in the atmosphere, trapping heat and contributing to higher sea levels. As the oceans rise, coastal roads erode, beachfront homes wash away, and, finally, major cities flood. Once again, it’s the public at large that gets left with the bill. The logical, which is to say the fair, way to address this situation would be to make the driver absorb the cost for his slice of the damage. This could be achieved by a new Pigovian tax, on carbon.

January 7, 2013/by dpogreba