Letters

摘要

It seems out of step for The Economist continuously to advocate a tax on carbon when there is an overwhelming mandate from both industrialised and developing countries for a market-based system for negotiating the cost of emissions ("Cap and trade, with handouts and loopholes", May 23rd). Carbon taxes may seem seductively simple and fair in principle, but in practice they are neither. What you always conveniently leave out when promoting carbon taxes is that tax systems, more so than market systems, are prone to tweaks around the edges, giving free rides and special exemptions to favoured industries.