'This system was a powerful engine of wealth creation and lifted millions out of poverty, but it relied upon the risks to the Market and to Mother Nature being underpriced and to profits being privatized in good times and losses socialized in bad times.'
It is funny how he is in my head these days (or I in his?) as I was just pondering this issue yesterday. I was driving to play basketball and I drove over a lit cigarette. It pissed me off, but I also thought to myself: the person who threw that out their window had no reason not to. In fact they had incentive to throw it out the window because then at least you don't have to clean your ashtray. For far too long we have totally underpriced items whether one talks about carbon in the atmosphere, cigarette butts on our streets (or bay) or water jugs in the ocean. There has to be some equitable way to price in our huge landfills (a corporate public subsidy even though many don't realize), our declining water quality and our atmospheric issues and the time is certainly now.
