Thursday, May 01, 2008

And Another Thing

Responding to Tom Friedman's column explaining why a gas tax holiday makes no sense, John McCain remarks:
Appearing on CNN's "American Morning," McCain noted his respect for the Pulitzer winner but said Americans deserve "just a little break this summer."

But then he went further.

"And I understand in New York City that you don't really drive a long way most of the time," McCain said. "But -- and then maybe you're chauffeured."

But McCain can't even get his digs right. Friedman doesn't live in New York City, he lives in Bethesda, Maryland (a DC suburb), and, as the article notes, drives a hybrid.

In the meantime, John Chait gives four reasons why Obama's refusal to pander on the gas tax holiday, and, of course, every economist in the world agrees with Friedman and thinks McCain is wrong here.

1 comment:

schiller1979 said...

I agree with Friedman's position on the gasoline tax, but I disagree with his advocacy of subsidies for alternative energy.

I think a better solution would be to increase the gasoline tax to fully reflect the environmental impact (i.e., to European levels, meaning several dollars per gallon). Then, fossil fuels would no longer have a price advantage over alternative energy, and market forces would allocate resources to alternative energy. (This assumes that comparable price increases are imposed on fuels other than gasoline, through excise tax, carbon tax, or tradable permits.) Such market-based allocation of resources would, as I see it, be more efficient than subsidies, which are as likely to go to the politically well-connected, as to those who can efficiently provide energy.