Thursday, July 22, 2010

"Pricing for the guilt-ridden"?

Pigou Club economists like a carbon tax. Various politicians want cap-and-trade. Public choice economists worry that either one would be politicized and (perhaps) no policy is the best policy. Yesterday's post suggested that the Environmental Kuznets Curve is likely to kick in anyway.

Speaking of the real world, today's WSJ includes "How Green Is My Sneaker?" which mentions an Eco-Index that various manufacturers are developing. Information is always a good thing. But price discrimination is also in play. And why not? I believe that Tim Harford (or someone; apologies if I got it wrong) once described "pricing for the guilt-ridden."