Pigou Club - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Pigou Club is described by its inventor, economist N. Gregory Mankiw

N. Gregory Mankiw

Nicholas Gregory "Greg" Mankiw is an American macroeconomist and Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Mankiw is known in academia for his work on New Keynesian economics....

, as "an elite group of economist

Economist

An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...

s and pundits

Pundit (politics)

A pundit is someone who offers to mass media his or her opinion or commentary on a particular subject area on which they are knowledgeable. The term has been increasingly applied to popular media personalities...

who have publicly advocated higher Pigovian tax

Pigovian tax

A Pigovian tax is a tax levied on a market activity that generates negative externalities. The tax is intended to correct the market outcome. In the presence of negative externalities, the social cost of a market activity is not covered by the private cost of the activity...

es, such as gasoline taxes

Fuel tax

A fuel tax is an excise tax imposed on the sale of fuel. In most countries the fuel tax is imposed on fuels which are intended for transportation...

or carbon tax

Carbon tax

A carbon tax is an environmental tax levied on the carbon content of fuels. It is a form of carbon pricing. Carbon is present in every hydrocarbon fuel and is released as carbon dioxide when they are burnt. In contrast, non-combustion energy sources—wind, sunlight, hydropower, and nuclear—do not...

es." Typically, these pundits and economists also advocate lowering other taxes, such as the income tax

Income tax

An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...

or the corporate tax

Corporate tax

Many countries impose corporate tax or company tax on the income or capital of some types of legal entities. A similar tax may be imposed at state or lower levels. The taxes may also be referred to as income tax or capital tax. Entities treated as partnerships are generally not taxed at the...

. A Pigovian tax (also spelled Pigouvian tax, named after economist Arthur Cecil Pigou

Arthur Cecil Pigou

Arthur Cecil Pigou was an English economist. As a teacher and builder of the school of economics at the University of Cambridge he trained and influenced many Cambridge economists who went on to fill chairs of economics around the world...

) is a tax

Tax

To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...

levied to correct the negative externalities (negative side-effects) of a market

Market

A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...

activity. These ideas are also known as an Ecotax

Ecotax

Ecotax refers to taxes intended to promote ecologically sustainable activities via economic incentives. Such a policy can complement or avert the need for regulatory approaches. Often, an ecotax policy proposal may attempt to maintain overall tax revenue by proportionately reducing other taxes...

or green tax shift

Tax shift

Tax shift or Tax swap is a change in taxation that eliminates or reduces one or several taxes and establishes or increases others while keeping the overall revenue the same...

Members	Date of Induction	Description
Anne Applebaum Anne Applebaum Anne Elizabeth Applebaum is a journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has written extensively about communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has been an editor at The Economist, and a member of the editorial board of The Washington Post...	February 6, 2007	Pundit
William Baldwin William Baldwin (journalist) William Baldwin is an investment strategies editor at Forbes Media. He has held this position since September 2010. Before that, he was an editor of Forbes magazine for 11 years. Baldwin graduated from Harvard University with a degree in linguistics and applied math in 1973. He has been an Enrolled...	June 24, 2006	Journalist
Gary Becker Gary Becker Gary Stanley Becker is an American economist. He is a professor of economics, sociology at the University of Chicago and a professor at the Booth School of Business. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1992, and received the United States' Presidential Medal of Freedom...	June 17, 2006	Economist
Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...	November 2, 2007	Politician
Nathan Braun	September 12, 2007	pundit
Jay Buckey	January 16, 2008	Pundit
Steven Chu Steven Chu Steven Chu is an American physicist and the 12th United States Secretary of Energy. Chu is known for his research at Bell Labs in cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997, along with his scientific colleagues Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and...	Not known	Scientist
Clive Crook Clive Crook Clive Crook is a columnist for the Financial Times, the National Journal and a senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly...	June 24, 2006	Pundit
Christopher Dodd Christopher Dodd Christopher John "Chris" Dodd is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States Senator from Connecticut for a thirty-year period ending with the 111th United States Congress....	April 25, 2007	Politician
Gregg Easterbrook Gregg Easterbrook Gregg Edmund Easterbrook is an American writer, lecturer, and a senior editor of The New Republic. His articles have appeared in Slate, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Wired, and Beliefnet. In addition, he was a fellow at the...	June 17, 2006	Pundit
Christopher Farrell	June 24, 2006	Composer
Robert H. Frank Robert H. Frank Robert H. Frank is the Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management and a Professor of Economics at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He contributes to the "Economic View" column, which appears every fifth Sunday in The New York Times.-Career:Frank...	June 17, 2006	Economist
Bill Frenzel Bill Frenzel William Eldridge "Bill" Frenzel is a former Republican Congressman from Minnesota, representing Minnesota's Third District, which included the southern and western suburbs of Minneapolis.- Early life and career :...	February 16, 2007	Politician
Thomas Friedman Thomas Friedman Thomas Lauren Friedman is an American journalist, columnist and author. He writes a twice-weekly column for The New York Times. He has written extensively on foreign affairs including global trade, the Middle East, and environmental issues and has won the Pulitzer Prize three times.-Personal...	June 17, 2006	Pundit
David Frum David Frum David J. Frum is a Canadian American journalist active in both the United States and Canadian political arenas. A former economic speechwriter for President George W. Bush, he is also the author of the first "insider" book about the Bush presidency...	November 9, 2006	Pundit
Jason Furman Jason Furman Jason Furman is an economist and influential policy intellectual. On January 28, 2009, Furman was named Deputy Director of the National Economic Council in the administration of President Barack Obama, whom he'd been advising since the latter stages of the 2008 presidential campaign...	February 2, 2007	Economist
Ted Gayer Ted Gayer Ted Gayer is an American economist. He is an associate professor at Georgetown Public Policy Institute and previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Microeconomic Analysis at the Department of the Treasury and as a Senior Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers...	June 27, 2006	Economist
Al Gore Al Gore Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....	June 24, 2006	Politician
Lindsey Graham Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham is the senior U.S. Senator from South Carolina and a member of the Republican Party. Previously he served as the U.S. Representative for .-Early life, education and career:...	March 1, 2010	Politician
Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan is an American economist who served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve of the United States from 1987 to 2006. He currently works as a private advisor and provides consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC...	October 2, 2006	Economist
Paul Gu	January 27, 2007	Pundit
Steven C. Hackett Steven C. Hackett Professor Steven C. Hackett began his career at the rank of Assistant Professor at Indiana University in Bloomington in 1989. He currently holds the rank of Professor of Economics at Humboldt State University ....	August 22, 2008	Economist
Tim Harford Tim Harford Tim Harford is an English economist and journalist, residing in London. He is the author of four economics books, presenter of BBC television series Trust Me, I'm an Economist, and writer of a humorous weekly column called "Dear Economist" for The Financial Times, in which he uses economic theory...	December 8, 2006	Economist
Kevin Hassett Kevin Hassett Kevin Allen Hassett is an American economist. He is best known for his work in macroeconomics and tax policy and for coauthoring Dow 36,000, published in 1999. Hassett is currently a senior fellow and director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute...	January 29, 2007	Economist
William Hoagland	February 16, 2007	Engineer
Bob Inglis Bob Inglis Robert Durden "Bob" Inglis, Sr. is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1993 to 1999, and then again from 2005 until 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party...	December 27, 2008	Politician
Joe Klein Joe Klein Joe Klein is a longtime Washington, D.C. and New York journalist and columnist, known for his novel Primary Colors, an anonymously written roman à clef portraying Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. Klein is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a former Guggenheim...	June 17, 2006	Pundit
Mort Kondracke Mort Kondracke Morton M. Kondracke is an American political commentator and journalist. He gained great visibility via a long stint as a panelist on The McLaughlin Group. Kondracke worked for several leading publications, serving for twenty years as executive editor and columnist for the non-partisan Capitol...	June 23, 2007	Pundit
Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...	January 26, 2007	Pundit
Paul Krugman Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman is an American economist, professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times...	June 24, 2006	Economist
Anthony Lake Anthony Lake William Anthony Kirsopp Lake, best known as Tony Lake, is the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund , author, academic, and former American diplomat, Foreign Service Officer, and political advisor. He has been a foreign policy advisor to many Democratic U.S...	October 30, 2006	Politician
John Larson John Larson John Barry Larson is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1999. He is a member of the a Democratic Party. The district is based in the state capital, Hartford.Larson is the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus....	August 9, 2007	Politician
David Leonhardt David Leonhardt David Leonhardt is the Washington bureau chief of The New York Times. He joined The Times in 1999 and wrote the "Economics Scene" column, and for the Times Sunday Magazine. Before coming to The Times, he wrote for Business Week and The Washington Post...	February 21, 2007	Pundit
Steven Levitt Steven Levitt Steven David "Steve" Levitt is an American economist known for his work in the field of crime, in particular on the link between legalized abortion and crime rates. Winner of the 2004 John Bates Clark Medal, he is currently the William B...	June 18, 2006	Economist
Brink Lindsey Brink Lindsey Brink Lindsey was the Cato Institute's vice president for research. He was also editor of , a monthly web magazine. From 1998 to 2004, he was director of Cato's , helping to make it a leading voice for free trade...	December 5, 2006
Ray Magliozzi Ray Magliozzi Raymond F. "Clack Tappet" Magliozzi is a co-host of NPR's winning weekly radio show, Car Talk. They are known as "Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers"...	January 15, 2007
N. Gregory Mankiw N. Gregory Mankiw Nicholas Gregory "Greg" Mankiw is an American macroeconomist and Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Mankiw is known in academia for his work on New Keynesian economics....	June 17, 2006	Founder
Megan McArdle Megan McArdle Megan McArdle is a Washington, D.C.-based blogger and journalist. She writes mostly about economics, finance and government policy from a moderate libertarian or classical liberal perspective. She currently serves as the business and economics editor, as well as a blogger, for The Atlantic. She is...	June 24, 2006
Daniel McFadden Daniel McFadden Daniel Little McFadden is an econometrician who shared the 2000 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with James Heckman ; McFadden's share of the prize was "for his development of theory and methods for analyzing discrete choice". He was the E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics at the...	January 22, 2007
Mike Moffatt Mike Moffatt Mike Moffatt is a Canadian economist and economics writer. He is the guide for the Economics site at About.com and provides weekly articles on economics topics, with a focus towards students...	September 16, 2006
Alan Mulally Alan Mulally Alan Roger Mulally is an American engineer and business executive who is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ford Motor Company...	August 9, 2007
Paul Mulshine	January 27, 2007
Ralph Nader Ralph Nader Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....	December 3, 2008
Gavin Newsom Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. Newsom was re-elected in 2007...	December 9, 2007
William Nordhaus William Nordhaus William Dawbney "Bill" Nordhaus is the Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University. Nordhaus lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with his wife Barbara.-Career:...	June 17, 2006	Economist
Richard Posner Richard Posner Richard Allen Posner is an American jurist, legal theorist, and economist who is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School...	November 4, 2006	Jurist
Jonathan Rauch Jonathan Rauch Jonathan Charles Rauch is an American author, journalist and activist. After graduating from Yale University, Rauch worked at the Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina, for the National Journal magazine, and later for The Economist magazine and as a freelance writer.Currently a senior writer and...	June 17, 2006
Kenneth Rogoff Kenneth Rogoff Kenneth Saul "Ken" Rogoff is currently the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Economics at Harvard University. He is also a chess Grandmaster.-Early life:...	September 16, 2006	Economist
Nouriel Roubini Nouriel Roubini Nouriel Roubini is an American economist. He claims to have predicted both the collapse of the United States housing market and the worldwide recession which started in 2008. He teaches at New York University's Stern School of Business and is the chairman of Roubini Global Economics, an economic...	November 9, 2006	Economist
Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey David Sachs is an American economist and Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. One of the youngest economics professors in the history of Harvard University, Sachs became known for his role as an adviser to Eastern European and developing country governments in the...	April 9, 2008	Economist
Robert J. Samuelson Robert J. Samuelson Robert Jacob Samuelson is a contributing editor of Newsweek and The Washington Post where he has written about business and economic issues since 1977. His columns appear in both publications. His articles also appear in the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and other influential newspapers...	January 17, 2007	Economist
Andrew Samwick Andrew Samwick Andrew Alan Samwick is an American economist, who served as Chief Economist on the staff of the United States President's Council of Economic Advisors from July 2003 to July 2004. Samwick is currently Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College and the director of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center...	June 24, 2006
Isabel Sawhill Isabel Sawhill Isabel V. Sawhill is a Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, where she formerly held the position of Vice President and Director of Economic Studies, among other duties...	February 16, 2007
George Schultz	October 30, 2006	Economist
Robert J. Shapiro Robert J. Shapiro Robert J. Shapiro is co-founder and chairman of , a United States private finance consultancy that has built a reputation on a range of economic policy issues, including climate change, intellectual property, and finance. He is known for warning of the dangers of naked short selling...	February 20, 2007
Rob Stavins	December 10, 2006
Charles Stenholm Charles Stenholm Charles Walter "Charlie" Stenholm, is a politician from the state of Texas. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives for 13 terms, from 1979 to 2005....	February 16, 2007
Andrew Sullivan Andrew Sullivan Andrew Michael Sullivan is an English author, editor, political commentator and blogger. He describes himself as a political conservative. He has focused on American political life....	June 24, 2006	Pundit
Lawrence Summers Lawrence Summers Lawrence Henry Summers is an American economist. He served as the 71st United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He was Director of the White House United States National Economic Council for President Barack Obama until November 2010.Summers is the...	October 31, 2006
John Tierney John Tierney (journalist) John Marion Tierney is a journalist and author who has worked for the New York Times since 1990.-Career and background:...	June 17, 2006
Hal Varian Hal Varian Hal Ronald Varian is an economist specializing in microeconomics and information economics. He is the Chief Economist at Google and he holds the title of emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley where he was founding dean of the School of Information...	October 1, 2006	Economist
Paul Volcker Paul Volcker Paul Adolph Volcker, Jr. is an American economist. He was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve under United States Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan from August 1979 to August 1987. He is widely credited with ending the high levels of inflation seen in the United States in the 1970s and...	February 14, 2007	Economist

The newsmagazine The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

has repeatedly expressed support for Pigouvian policies.

The group received a great deal of publicity when The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

published "Raise the Gasoline Tax? Funny, It Doesn’t Sound Republican" on October 8, 2006.

External links

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