"The Get America Working! approach would work, in effect, by correcting a major price distortion. The current U.S. Internal Revenue Code taxes employment far more heavily than it does the use of natural resources. This distortion has grown progressively worse as payroll taxes have grown. Revising this distortion would increase employment, equity and overall economic vigor importantly. And it would do so by responding to market price signals, not through clumsy and expensive government interventions."
Friedman Calls for Carbon Tax to Spark Change
Date:
Tue, 03/10/2009
Source:
Portland Oregonian
Note: In a speech on March 9th in Portland, Oregon Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman called for a tax on carbon to "make dirty fuels more expensive and clean fuels cheaper." As in his latest book, Hot, Flat and Crowded, Friedman suggested the tax be offset by a payroll tax cut. According to this report, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski is reviewing this approach.
