The Carbon Tax: Merely a Ploy for Wealth Redistribution?

Some blog followers might be interested in a recent post “The Carbon Tax: Merely a Ploy for Wealth Redistribution?” [Hake (2013)]. The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: In response to my discussion-list post “Would a Carbon Tax Save Life on Planet Earth?” [Hake (2013)] at http://yhoo.it/16ECfUn, David Marx at http://bit.ly/14fAjhl wrote: “Now, we finally get to the real purpose of carbon caps and taxes . . . . . . . IT'S ALL ABOUT WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION. . . . .” [My CAPS.]

James Hansen, in his article “The American Party” at http://huff.to/13gcjcR had this to say about “wealth/income redistribution” (paraphrasing): “Yes, the Carbon Tax is progressive: some ambitious low-income people who pay special attention to their carbon footprint will be able to save money for other purposes, wealthy people will pay more in added costs than they receive in the dividend. However, the added cost to them is small compared with change of income tax rates -- and lower income tax rates would be much more likely when the economy improves as the system moves toward honest pricing of fossil fuels. . . . . . . . . After I spoke to a group of conservative politicians, one of them said ‘THAT’S INCOME REDISTRIBUTION!’ ” [My CAPS.]

But not all conservatives are so disposed - see e.g., the WSJ piece “Why We Support a Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax” at http://bit.ly/11ZoaOr, by George Shultz http://bit.ly/ZOTqiJ and Gary Becker http://bit.ly/ZtDT5I, both senior fellows at the conservative Hoover Institution http://bit.ly/SPGxwb.
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To access the complete 9 kB post please click on http://yhoo.it/13FUcvQ.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
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REFERENCES [URL shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 05 June 2013.]
Hake, R.R. 2013. “The Carbon Tax: Merely a Ploy for Wealth Redistribution?” online on the OPEN! Net-Gold archives at http://yhoo.it/13FUcvQ. Post of 05 Jun 2013 11:23:12-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to various discussion lists.