Pigou Club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pigou Club is described as an "an elite group of economists and pundits with the good sense to have publicly advocated higher Pigovian taxes, such as gasoline taxes or carbon taxes." A Pigovian tax (also spelled Pigouvian tax) is a tax levied to correct the negative externalities (negative side-effects) of a market activity. Typically these pundits and economists also advocate lowering other taxes, such as the income tax or the corporate tax. These ideas are also known as an Ecotax or green tax shift.
The Pigou Club was founded by economist N. Gregory Mankiw. The following 44 pundits and economists have been inducted into the Pigou Club as of February 16, 2007:
| Name | Date of Induction |
|---|---|
| Anne Applebaum | February 6, 2007 |
| William Baldwin | June 24, 2006 |
| Gary Becker | June 17, 2006 |
| Clive Crook | June 24, 2006 |
| Gregg Easterbrook | June 17, 2006 |
| Christopher Farrell | June 24, 2006 |
| Robert H. Frank | June 17, 2006 |
| Bill Frenzel | February 16, 2007 |
| Thomas Friedman | June 17, 2006 |
| David Frum | November 9, 2006 |
| Jason Furman | February 2, 2007 |
| Ted Gayer | June 27, 2006 |
| Al Gore | June 24, 2006 |
| Alan Greenspan | October 2, 2006 |
| Tim Harford | December 8, 2006 |
| Kevin Hassett | January 29, 2007 |
| William Hoagland | February 16, 2007 |
| Joe Klein | June 17, 2006 |
| Charles Krauthammer | January 26, 2007 |
| Paul Krugman | June 24, 2006 |
| Anthony Lake | October 30, 2006 |
| Brink Lindsey | December 5, 2006 |
| Ray Magliozzi | January 15, 2007 |
| N. Gregory Mankiw | June 17, 2006 |
| Megan McArdle | June 24, 2006 |
| Daniel McFadden | January 22, 2007 |
| Mike Moffatt | September 16, 2006 |
| Paul Mulshine | January 27, 2007 |
| William Nordhaus | June 17, 2006 |
| Richard Posner | November 4, 2006 |
| Jonathan Rauch | June 17, 2006 |
| Kenneth Rogoff | September 16, 2006 |
| Nouriel Roubini | November 9, 2006 |
| Robert J. Samuelson | January 17, 2007 |
| Andrew Samwick | June 24, 2006 |
| Isabel Sawhill | February 16, 2007 |
| George Schultz | October 30, 2006 |
| Rob Stavins | December 10, 2006 |
| Charles Stenholm | February 16, 2007 |
| Andrew Sullivan | June 24, 2006 |
| Lawrence Summers | October 31, 2006 |
| John Tierney | June 17, 2006 |
| Hal Varian | October 1, 2006 |
In addition, the periodical The Economist has repeatedly expressed support for Pigouvian policies (cf. January 2007 cover story, which states "This paper has repeatedly expressed support for a carbon tax.").
The group received a great deal of publicity when The New York Times published "Raise the Gasoline Tax? Funny, It Doesn’t Sound Republican" on October 8, 2006. The backlash came soon after, as the National Post, a Canadian right-of-center newspaper, started the Nopigou Club.
