Posted: July 13th, 2016

Who should pay the external costs of driving?

Who should pay the external costs of driving?
As the textbook points out, driving a car has external costs. The health cost of pollution alone has been estimated between $0.40 and $6.00 per gallon of gasoline consumed. (It is very difficult to measure the health costs. We are uncertain which health problems pollution causes and the cost of particular health problems are difficult to measure.)

Who should pay the external costs of driving?
As the textbook points out, driving a car has external costs. The health cost of pollution alone has been estimated between $0.40 and $6.00 per gallon of gasoline consumed. (It is very difficult to measure the health costs. We are uncertain which health problems pollution causes and the cost of particular health problems are difficult to measure.)

“Should the external costs of driving cars be paid through a tax on gasoline?”
Identify the strongest two arguments in favor of such a tax and the strongest two arguments against such a tax.

Should the external costs of driving cars be paid through a tax on gasoline? If the main focus is to get Americans to drive less and use more fuel efficient vehicles in order to reduce air pollution and the emission of green house gases then by all means I agree that a tax should be applied to gasoline

Identify the strongest two arguments in favor of such a tax and the strongest two arguments against such a tax.

Should the external costs of driving cars be paid through a tax on gasoline? If the main focus is to get Americans to drive less and use more fuel efficient vehicles in order to reduce air pollution and the emission of green house gases then by all means I agree that a tax should be applied to gasoline