On occasion and what with the economy in the tank, some folk muse openly about imposing carbon based penalties on China – a new form of protectionism if you will. The implications of this need to be understood before our poll happy politicians attempt to score domestic points – fortunately some cautionary thoughts are available over at Marginal Revolution. RTWT.
- It can be very hard to identify and isolate the energy inputs into an exported product, especially if the host government is uncooperative and a lot of money is at stake.
- Last I checked China was funding a big chunk of our government’s debt. Confronting them would have to be bundled with a regime of extreme fiscal conservatism and unilateral foreign policy.
- Chinese citizens wanting clean air at home are possibly our biggest ally so let’s not alienate them.
what folks are saying