| | Andy, I was mistaken in stating that the Coase theorem is an appropriate justification for cap and trade, because it is not. The Coase theorem would not interfere with the level of production, just the initial allocation of property. Thus, I'll correct my edits. Your paragraph on excuses is fine. What I will do is maybe expound on some of the things you've written, so that readers can know precisely what the Coase theorem states and what it does not state. Namely, the Coase theorem does not state that there is an interference in the level of production either through a quota or through taxes. The Coase theorem only states that invariance occurs regardless of the initial allocation. FYI, half of Google's sources on the Coase theorem get it wrong. [[User:Brown25|Brown25]] 00:35, 13 August 2009 (EDT) | | Andy, I was mistaken in stating that the Coase theorem is an appropriate justification for cap and trade, because it is not. The Coase theorem would not interfere with the level of production, just the initial allocation of property. Thus, I'll correct my edits. Your paragraph on excuses is fine. What I will do is maybe expound on some of the things you've written, so that readers can know precisely what the Coase theorem states and what it does not state. Namely, the Coase theorem does not state that there is an interference in the level of production either through a quota or through taxes. The Coase theorem only states that invariance occurs regardless of the initial allocation. FYI, half of Google's sources on the Coase theorem get it wrong. [[User:Brown25|Brown25]] 00:35, 13 August 2009 (EDT) |
| | :I think, though I'm not certain, there is an interesting extension of the Coase theorem. Even if you had a tax on productive behavior from a productive class which was then transfered to an unproductive class and even if flow of these taxes could change direction and were varying based upon arbitrary conditions, so long as the classes are discrete and unchanging in their compositions, the invariance property of the efficient outcome from the Coase theorem would still hold, given the assumptions used in the Coase theorem. Amazing, though I'm not implying I would ever endorse such a policy, namely because such circumstances would never exist in the real world, it rewards laziness and lack of prudence, and even a minor misunderstanding of this line of thinking could lead to frankly Communistic policies. Thus, I want to be and will be very careful in how I approach this in the mainspace. [[User:Brown25|Brown25]] 22:06, 13 August 2009 (EDT) | | :I think, though I'm not certain, there is an interesting extension of the Coase theorem. Even if you had a tax on productive behavior from a productive class which was then transfered to an unproductive class and even if flow of these taxes could change direction and were varying based upon arbitrary conditions, so long as the classes are discrete and unchanging in their compositions, the invariance property of the efficient outcome from the Coase theorem would still hold, given the assumptions used in the Coase theorem. Amazing, though I'm not implying I would ever endorse such a policy, namely because such circumstances would never exist in the real world, it rewards laziness and lack of prudence, and even a minor misunderstanding of this line of thinking could lead to frankly Communistic policies. Thus, I want to be and will be very careful in how I approach this in the mainspace. [[User:Brown25|Brown25]] 22:06, 13 August 2009 (EDT) |
| | + | :: There is still much to be gleaned from the [[Coase theorem]] and I look forward to discussing and developing it further with you. That said, I think taxes are a form of transaction costs and thus do interfere with an efficient level of activity. If an owner of a railroad is taxed nearly 100%, then he will run the railroad less than if he's taxed at a reasonable rate, or at no rate. Everyone is worse off then.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:46, 13 August 2009 (EDT) |