Alan S. Blinder
1/31/2011

President Obama’s call for a major technological push for cleaner energy could be realized if decision-making is left in private hands and the jobs created will be in the private sector. Such a policy would not cost taxpayers a dime and would eventually reduce the federal budget deficit. Blinder says the “bang for the buck” from a phased-in CO2 levy would be infinite at first–lots of jobs at zero cost to the federal budget. Up to now our country has done next to nothing to curb CO2 emissions. A stiff tax would make a world of difference. Blinder promises that the US will eventually succumb to the inexorable logic of a phased-in CO2 tax, if you’re young enough to live that long.

Blinder, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University and vice chairman of the Promontory Interfinancial Network, is a former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve.

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