Book contents
- Prospects for Economic Growth in the United States
- Prospects for Economic Growth in the United States
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Overview
- Part II Labor and Economic Growth
- Part III Implications of Technology for Growth
- Part IV The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Growth
- 7 Taxes and Economic Growth
- 8 Carbon Taxes: Macroeconomic and Distributional Effects
- Part V Special Topics on Economic Growth
- Part VI A Concluding Perspective
- Index
- References
8 - Carbon Taxes: Macroeconomic and Distributional Effects
from Part IV - The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Growth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2021
Book contents
- Prospects for Economic Growth in the United States
- Prospects for Economic Growth in the United States
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Notes on Contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Overview
- Part II Labor and Economic Growth
- Part III Implications of Technology for Growth
- Part IV The Effects of Fiscal Policy on Growth
- 7 Taxes and Economic Growth
- 8 Carbon Taxes: Macroeconomic and Distributional Effects
- Part V Special Topics on Economic Growth
- Part VI A Concluding Perspective
- Index
- References
Summary
Although the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) did not include any environmental tax provisions, numerous tax policy discussions in the United States have considered implementing a carbon tax, giving rise to concerns about such a tax‘s potential negative effects on economic growth and the distribution of income in the US economy. This chapter examines the macroeconomic and distributional effects of implementing a representative carbon tax under several assumptions about recycling resulting tax revenues. It simulates these effects using the Diamond-Zodrow (DZ) dynamic overlapping generations computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. Earlier literature and our results confirm that: (i) the negative effects of a carbon tax are moderate on the level of future GDP and negligible on the rate of economic growth; and (ii) the regressive effects of a carbon tax can easily be offset with judicious use of the resulting revenues. Policies that use carbon tax revenues to finance uniform per-household rebates and to enact policies favorable to capital formation, such as elimination of both personal taxes on dividends and capital gains, and national debt, can have a highly progressive net impact.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Prospects for Economic Growth in the United States , pp. 195 - 244Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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