Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site l5.uucp
Path: utzoo!lsuc!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!petrus!bellcore!decvax!decwrl!sun!l5!laura
From: laura@l5.uucp (Laura Creighton)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: pollution
Message-ID: <344@l5.uucp>
Date: Tue, 17-Dec-85 03:12:15 EST
Article-I.D.: l5.344
Posted: Tue Dec 17 03:12:15 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 18-Dec-85 20:03:33 EST
References: <266@meccts.UUCP> <4340005@csd2.UUCP> <879@mmintl.UUCP>
Reply-To: laura@l5.UUCP (Laura Creighton)
Organization: Nebula Consultants in San Francisco
Lines: 26

In article <879@mmintl.UUCP> franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) writes:
>
>The problem with this solution for the libertarians is that it requires
>a powerful central government, with the ability to collect taxes.  I
>don't see any solutions which are compatible with libertarian ideas on
>government.
>
>(I do quibble with the details of how our government deals with the problem.
>Instead of regulations limiting the permitted pollutants, there should be
>taxes on the amount of pollutants emitted, with an effort made to match
>the tax to the costs imposed on others thereby -- this is hard to do when
>health and life are at stake, but not impossible.  This would not diminish
>the need for a powerful central government.)
>

Frank, what you have come up with is one of the standard libertarian
solutions to such a problem.  There are other ones.  But those are not
taxes that you are getting your government to collect but fines or
fees -- unless you plan on making everybody pay for the damage done
by Joe Polluter's factory.


-- 
Laura Creighton		
sun!l5!laura		(that is ell-five, not fifteen)
l5!laura@lll-crg.arpa