This was predicted a decade ago. Solar will bring electricity costs down, then electric cars will gradually take over.
It would make a lot of old folks mad, but the younger generation would know which skills to build for the new economy.
Homesteading, hunting, fishing, foraging...
Our economies are more planned than we like to admit. It's just that right now we don't exercise any control over the direction or goals of our economic production.
I am really sympathetic to this idea but I think there's a bit of a underlying assumption here -- this requires _rational actors_. This isn't always the case. For example, racial or gender hiring discrimination happens, but it's irrational, since artificially shrinking a hiring pool can lead companies to miss out on great candidates that would have led to greater profits.
Frankly I think the world would be a better place if "the market is rational" but I don't see a lot of strong historical evidence for that. It would be a lot easier to create policies to shape behavior in positive ways if that were the case.
I certainly don't disagree that addressing climate change will be impossible until there's a Holy Grail solution, but I'm skeptical that it would adopted quickly or by everyone.
> If we can align policy with both interests I think we can make serious progress.
Agreed 100%
I think there are exceptions to this rule like slavery, segregation, climate change, etc. Sometimes the damage from certain ideas and behaviors is so severe that waiting for culture to change isn't the best course of action.
One of the pros/cons of capitalism is that companies and workers will fight policies that make them less money. The Holy Grail for any capitalist policy is something that does the right thing and makes money.
Doing the right thing is unfortunately optional. Making money is not. Idealists want big government policy to just do the right thing. Capitalists want businesses to have unrestricted access to making money. If we can align policy with both interests I think we can make serious progress.
In my opinion, I think we have a better chance at fighting climate change with a bill that fits in s piece of paper rather than thousands of pages of regulations and loopholes.