From a WSJ piece on the DC bag tax (emphasis added):The poster is Chair of the econ dept. at Berry College. I guess you can say "Dude" when you have tenure.
"I am somewhat surprised by the extent to which people changed their behavior," said Christophe A.G. Tulou, acting director of the city Department of the Environment. "What we've done is created a market mechanism that gives people an incentive" not to use disposable bags.Dude, a tax is not a market mechanism! This may be the greatest policy since sliced bread, but it is a government directive not a market mechanism. Wonder if he things the income tax is also a "market mechanism"?
I have to go with lines like:
...Just as an economist using the tools of science (mathematics) doesn't make economics a science, carbon traders using the tools of markets doesn't make carbon trading market based....From our post -"WARNING: Physics Envy May Be Hazardous To Your Wealth!"
