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Re:Climate change and the 75% problem by sp332 on Wednesday October 17, 2018 @12:30PM (#18240691)
That seems backwards. If the externalities of manufacturing the product are going to hurt me, the manufacturer should be paying me a discount.
Re:Climate change and the 75% problem by Armisael16 on Wednesday October 17, 2018 @12:34PM (#18240748)
It doesn’t matter where a tax is actually applied - it’ll be split between the seller and purchaser regardless (the exact split depends on the elasticity of the market).
Re:Climate change and the 75% problem by TheCoelacanth on Wednesday October 17, 2018 @04:05PM (#18243221)
You get the benefit of the product, otherwise you wouldn't be paying for it. You should pay the rest of the world for the damage that was done to it for your benefit.
Re:Climate change and the 75% problem by ip26 on Wednesday October 17, 2018 @12:38PM (#18240798)
Ok, how about where the externalities of manufacturing the product hurts someone in Florida, and you in California are the one buying the product?
Re:Climate change and the 75% problem by sp332 on Wednesday October 17, 2018 @01:12PM (#18241166)
I think the manufacturer should be the one paying, not the customer.
Re:Climate change and the 75% problem by Max_aaa on Wednesday October 17, 2018 @01:33PM (#18241387)
The customer always pays, as all the manufacturers money comes from customers.
Re:Climate change and the 75% problem by vivism on Wednesday October 17, 2018 @01:05PM (#18241095)
They wouldn't be manufacturing it if there were no demand for it.
Re:Climate change and the 75% problem by sp332 on Wednesday October 17, 2018 @01:12PM (#18241159)
Yeah but supply might dry up if manufacturers had to pay for damages out of their own pockets.
Re:Climate change and the 75% problem by jchrisa on Thursday October 18, 2018 @01:30PM (#18250291)
You mean economic growth is a mirage?
Re:Climate change and the 75% problem by sp332 on Thursday October 18, 2018 @02:13PM (#18250680)
Well if it's going to take several trillion dollars to deal with effects of climate change, then however much money we thought we had saved by going with fossil fuels over cleaner but more expensive energy sources was actually overstated by several trillion dollars. I don't think that covers all economic growth though. And if a manufacturer pollutes the crap out of a river and gets people sick, I would deduct the costs borne by the people downstream from the profits of the company, at least when counting "economic growth". I suspect in terms of GDP it's a positive, because of the business created for doctors and lawyers.