Markets, Democracy and Survival
How to be prosperous without being self-destructive
Our hearts tell us what we should do. Prices tell us what we will do.
The principle is clear if we want to make economic growth mean ecological improvement, not ecological destruction. This is the practical definition of sustainability in the 21st century.
More pollution must mean a decrease in the rate of profit. Less pollution must mean increasing profits. Polluting goods will lose market share. Non-polluting goods will gain market share.
We need to tax consumption, not income. Pay taxes on whatever we buy or use. More pollution, more tax. Lower pollution, less tax. Ecological consumption taxes can enlist the invisible hand of Adam Smith in the cause of ecological sustainability. The market means are at hand to lead to sustainability and prosperity.
In his book Markets, Democracy & Survival, Roy Morrison presents a detailed plan for an ecological value added tax to be phased in to replace all income tax (personal, corporate, and payroll).
An average 18% ecological value added tax, or E-VAT, can replace all U.S. government taxes on income, fund the federal budget, and get the prices right by raising taxes on more polluting goods and services. The more polluting, the higher the E-VAT tax rate, and the lower the rate of profit.
Click here to go to Amazon.com to buy this book on-line
$10.00 / paperback / 74 pages /
Writer's Publishing Cooperative / 2007 /
ISBN-10: 1-930149-35-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-930149-35-9
Roy Morrison is an energy consultant, writer and cooperative organizer. He is involved in pioneering work in developing wind hedges and was a former leader of the Clamshell Alliance that used non-violent action to oppose the construction of the Seabrook nuclear power plant. His web page is www.roymorrison.net.
