and she said.. "how you interpret the dream is probably more important than the dream itself"

There has been recent hub-bub about raising the gas tax. No, not anyone important, just talking heads. They're all for throwing around 'ol Pigou's name, that dead professor of economics across the pond. He's the one responsible for Pigouvian Taxation they tell me:

A Pigovian tax is a tax levied to correct the negative externalities of a market activity. For instance, a Pigovian tax may be levied on producers who pollute the environment to encourage them to reduce pollution, and to provide revenue which may be used to counteract the negative effects of the pollution. Certain types of Pigovian taxes are sometimes referred to as sin taxes, for example taxes on alcohol and cigarettes.

These Pigouvians argue a number of points: It'll help the environment. It'll provide monies for R&D into alternative energies. It'll reduce road congestion. It'll balance out cost between consumer and producer through "tax incidence" (bringing money into the country from the middle east or at least lessening how much we send their way). Certainly, it may.. or it may not. There is no guarantee that higher prices will reduce usage barring the discovery of a cheaper alternative and, sadly, there is no guarantee the taxes would be spent by our government on any sort of positive R&D. The telephone system is an excellent example of this. In the U.S. we continue to use and maintain the antiquated landline because we built the infrastructure, not because it is the most efficient. Is our relience on oil our Maginot Line, doomed to be considered the weakest link in our armour against the equalizing nature of global markets? I fear our troubles are much deeper and spread wider than any nations border..

I don't think a $1 per gallon rise in gas prices will do much, but it is an interesting and thought-provoking point. If I had time to sit and think all day I suspect I'd try and re-write economic theory (scratch that, I'd start anew).. I have this creepy itchy feeling that all those old guys in tweed have been staring at themselves in the mirror too long and they're trying to light a match (their great idea) in a vaccum. The only problem is bright ideas don't burn in space. In space, there is nothing but yourself. In a true vaccum you are your only point of reference. That is why we have the objects us and them; we are operating in a vaccum (think of the earth as a big hoover dust bag - we have some sense of the universe outside of the bag, but we really don't understand it or have any idea what's going on out there).

The result? Shit like "economic externalities". Certainly, it's a point of reference, but that is like holding onto a dead flashlight on a dark night. The reference gets you nowhere. Externalities are always internalities for somebody else and until the personalities can come together and accept our singular existentiality, well.. we're kinda fucked.