Fleshing Out The Cap & Trade Bill

Tyler Cowen makes a list and judges Waxman-Markey. Number eight:

Waxman-Markey defenders argue "we must do something," "this is a first step and a framework," "the people who oppose the bill are fraudsters," etc. but all that non-marginal analysis does little to address the key problem.  Those arguments may make you feel better about affiliating with Waxman-Markey, and opposing its critics, but they are not geared toward solving the problem.  Beware when non-marginal moralizing becomes so prevalent in the case for a piece of legislation.

The Economist had a good take here as well. It looks as if the price for doing anything about carbon is largely giving away the permits for free to special interests. Maybe it's a start. But it makes the fiscal future even worse - since the cap and trade revenues were about the only reliable revenue producer in Obama's future.