tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387419829321561184.post6996807041794615845..comments2022-11-27T03:13:55.111-06:00Comments on The Maxwell Evans Report: To Orson Scott Card, regarding EnergyMaxwell Evanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08960385712406587683noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1387419829321561184.post-11187998303620563592008-11-05T14:30:00.000-06:002008-11-05T14:30:00.000-06:00As an economist-in-training, my natural reaction i...As an economist-in-training, my natural reaction is to recoil in horror whenever someone says that "X costs more/less than it should" -- but under the circumstances, you're pretty much correct.<BR/><BR/>What I find really strange is Card's assertion that cap-and-trade programs don't work because they cost 'too much.' Depending on exactly what he means by this, he's either mixing the costs of the program itself with the costs of <I>running</I> the program, or he's effectively saying that coal itself costs 'too much' to use for electricity.<BR/><BR/>I can go into this in a separate post, if there's some interest, but if a cap-and-trade system is set up properly, it causes market prices to coincide with the true costs of using the resources in question.<BR/><BR/>I agree with you completely, in that Card is an incredibly gifted writer and thinker, but, as the saying goes, "many a good argument has been ruined by someone who knows what he's talking about."<BR/><BR/>-TiroMarcus Tullius Tirohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08700335931322532308noreply@blogger.com