The Pigou Club is described by its creator, economist

Gregory Mankiw Nicholas Gregory Mankiw (; born February 3, 1958) is an American macroeconomist who is currently the Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Mankiw is best known in academia for his work on New Keynesian economics. Mankiw h ...

, as "an elite group of

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

s and

pundits A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

with the good sense to have publicly advocated higher

Pigovian tax A Pigouvian tax (also spelled Pigovian tax) is a tax on any market activity that generates negative externalities (i.e., external costs incurred by the producer that are not included in the market price). The tax is normally set by the government ...

es, such as gasoline taxes or

carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...

es."

Description

These pundits and economists often advocate lowering other taxes to keep the total amount of taxes collected the same, though many have also proposed dedicating the revenue to other worthwhile projects. A Pigovian tax (also spelled Pigouvian tax, named after economist

Arthur Cecil Pigou Arthur Cecil Pigou (; 18 November 1877 – 7 March 1959) was an English economist. As a teacher and builder of the School of Economics at the University of Cambridge, he trained and influenced many Cambridge economists who went on to take chair ...

) is a

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

levied to correct the

negative externalities In economics, an externality or external cost is an indirect cost or benefit to an uninvolved third party that arises as an effect of another party's (or parties') activity. Externalities can be considered as unpriced goods involved in either co ...

(negative side-effects) of a

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

activity. These ideas are also known as an

ecotax An environmental tax, ecotax (short for ecological taxation), or green tax is a tax levied on activities which are considered to be harmful to the environment and is intended to promote environmentally friendly activities via economic incentives. ...

es or green

tax shift Tax shift or Tax swap is a change in taxation that eliminates or reduces one or several taxes and establishes or increases others while keeping the overall revenue the same. The term can refer to desired shifts, such as towards Pigovian taxes (typi ...

Members

Supports

The newsmagazine ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'' has repeatedly expressed support for Pigouvian policies as has ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' Editorial Board, NPR's "Planet Money" and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. The group received a great deal of publicity when ''

'' published "Raise the Gasoline Tax? Funny, It Doesn’t Sound Republican" in 2006.{{cite news , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/business/yourmoney/08view.html?ei=5090&en=3a749625ac447e79&ex=1317960000&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1160746887-1x+hGk+DvqVPOYWxke5k3 , title=Raise the Gasoline Tax? Funny, It Doesn't Sound Republican , newspaper=The New York Times , date=8 October 2006 , last1=Gross , first1=Daniel

References

External links

The Pigou Club Manifesto (Greg Mankiw's Blog)

Smart Taxes: An Open Invitation to Join the Pigou Club

* ttps://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101701327.html Talk of Raising Gas Tax Is Just That (Washington Post)
The Nopigou Club (National Post)

Economic policy Environmental tax Environmental economics