Harman Patil (Editor)

Pigou Club

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The Pigou Club is described by its creator, economist and blogger N. Gregory Mankiw, as "an elite group of economists and pundits with the good sense to have publicly advocated higher Pigovian taxes, such as gasoline taxes or carbon taxes." These pundits and economists often advocate lowering other taxes to keep the total amount of taxes collected the same, though many have also proposed dedicating the revenue to other worthwhile projects. A Pigovian tax (also spelled Pigouvian tax, named after economist Arthur Cecil Pigou) is a tax levied to correct the negative externalities (negative side-effects) of a market activity. These ideas are also known as an Ecotax (or green tax shift).

The newsmagazine The Economist has repeatedly expressed support for Pigouvian policies. as has "The Washington Post" Editorial Board, NPR's "Planet Money" and "The New York Times".

The group received a great deal of publicity when The New York Times published "Raise the Gasoline Tax? Funny, It Doesn’t Sound Republican" on October 8, 2006.

References

Pigou Club Wikipedia