Even if you believe the Obama administration’s stimulus plan has a chance to stimulate the economy (an idea Roy Cordato rebuts here), you can’t make a good case that a cap-and-trade scheme for carbon dioxide emissions will have the economic benefits the president and his supporters project.
That’s the case Nina Easton makes in the latest Fortune.
While the right kind of health-care reform has the potential to boost
the economy and lessen the entitlement burden on the budget, the same
cannot be said of going green, which economic models are showing will
reduce growth and create job losses. The cap-and-trade bill that barely
passed the House will reduce the purchasing power of households by an
average of $730, rising to $830 by 2030, according to an analysis by
the Boston-based consulting firm CRA International. “It’s a complete
myth that the economy and jobs will grow as a result of making energy
10% to 20% more expensive,” says CRA economist Anne E. Smith. “You have
to look at this through the lens of an economist, not through the lens
of wishful thinking.”
