sábado, 24 de mayo de 2008

El impuesto sobre el CO2

Harford sobre el impuesto sobre el CO2. La columna en general es interesante, pero para mi gusto, lo más sustancioso:

Para empezar, una buena presentación de los problemas que aquejan por ejemplo a la eficiencia energética:
Behavioural economists have shown that we sometimes procrastinate. This could be a real problem: a carbon tax could make it rational to install double-glazing, insulate the loft and buy an energy-efficient fridge. Yet as frail human beings, we might put off all of those rational investments, perhaps indefinitely. Or we might waste energy because we are ignorant of our energy-saving options. (How much money, for instance, could you save, each year, by buying a more efficient fridge? I haven’t a clue.)
Y una explicación del fenómeno que tiene en cuenta el nivel de información o educación del agente (no importa):
Even Joe Public, the regular consumer, is not as stupid as he seems. One study, by Alexander Brill, Kevin Hassett and Gilbert Metcalf, asked whether ignorance might explain our unwillingness to invest in energy-saving home improvements. It seems not: more educated consumers make the same decisions as less educated ones. But the return on such improvements is closely correlated with consumers’ willingness to make them.
En todo caso, creo que un análisis muy acertado en estos tiempos en que se debate tanto acerca del mejor enfoque para reducir las emisiones (ver el siguiente post).

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