The Price of Gasoline and Behavior Modification
Just came across this interesting nullarticle on world wide retail prices of gasoline. Believe it or not, the prices range from just $.12 a gallon (Venezuela) to $6.00+ a gallon (Amsterdam). It appears that some countries tax gasoline (cars are evil, take the train), and others artificially lower the cost of gasoline as a benefit to it's citizens.
Which made me think a bit about how the government doesn't just use laws to affect behavior. For example, let's say you are a government and you think smoking is evil. You can either pass a law and make it it illegal to possess, smoke or sell cigarettes...except that a lot of people who vote also smoke. As an alternative, you can use tax law by making it very expensive to smoke. There is a whole class of these taxes, called 'Sin Taxes'.
Of course, governments use tax law to encourage behavior too, as with taxes credits for those who drive hybrid cars or buy solar panels.
The bottom line is that government has more tools at it's disposal than one would think. The bigger question is, does it always have our best interests in mind? Does it always act for our greater good? Or, maybe, sometimes, laws get passed and taxes get levied because someone got paid....
Just came across this interesting nullarticle on world wide retail prices of gasoline. Believe it or not, the prices range from just $.12 a gallon (Venezuela) to $6.00+ a gallon (Amsterdam). It appears that some countries tax gasoline (cars are evil, take the train), and others artificially lower the cost of gasoline as a benefit to it's citizens.
Which made me think a bit about how the government doesn't just use laws to affect behavior. For example, let's say you are a government and you think smoking is evil. You can either pass a law and make it it illegal to possess, smoke or sell cigarettes...except that a lot of people who vote also smoke. As an alternative, you can use tax law by making it very expensive to smoke. There is a whole class of these taxes, called 'Sin Taxes'.
Of course, governments use tax law to encourage behavior too, as with taxes credits for those who drive hybrid cars or buy solar panels.
The bottom line is that government has more tools at it's disposal than one would think. The bigger question is, does it always have our best interests in mind? Does it always act for our greater good? Or, maybe, sometimes, laws get passed and taxes get levied because someone got paid....