Economics

• New York City is poised to launch the first congestion pricing plan to reduce traffic in a major U.S. metropolitan area.
• Like many journeys in the Big Apple, this one has been punctuated by delays.
• Once the system starts up, however, it’s expected to significantly reduce gridlock in Manhattan and generate billions of dollars to improve public transit citywide.
• As an urban policy scholar, I’m looking forward to seeing New York’s plan go into effect.
• But given the heavy costs that traffic imposes on public health and productivity, I’m encouraged to see a major U.S. city finally test this approach.

Nudging drivers

• Congestion pricing is a response to externalities – costs or benefits that are generated by one party but incurred by another.
• Clogged city streets and air pollution are externalities created by urban car users, many of whom live outside the city.
• This approach is behind behavioral economics, the policy strategy of using “nudges” that preserve choice but encourage certain actions.

Public transit receives priority

• The New York plan was presented to the board of the Metropolitan Transit Authority in November 2023 after years of study and a detailed environmental impact assessment, required by federal law.
• It also would generate US$15 billion for capital improvements to the city’s public transit system, including making stations accessible for passengers with disabilities and buying new electric buses and commuter rail and subway cars.
• More than 75% of all trips into the central business district are made by public transit.

• Over several months of public hearings, the MTA heard both broad support for congestion pricing and thousands of requests for credits, discounts and exemptions, most of which were denied.
• The limited number of exemptions includes private commuter buses, school buses and city-owned vehicles, including emergency vehicles.
• New Jersey is suing the MTA, arguing among other things that the plan is unconstitutional because it burdens interstate commerce.

Starting the journey

• And how will commuters respond when they find that trains and subways initially are more crowded, before capital upgrades improve the system?
• But freedom for car users has imposed health and economic costs on millions of New Yorkers for many years.
• But if New York’s experiment succeeds, it could provide a model and valuable insights for other traffic-clogged U.S. cities.

John Rennie Short does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• But economists are hardly infallible experts on the carbon tax and other fiscal measures implemented by governments.
• While the carbon tax increase kicked in, the Alberta fuel tax was hiked by 13 cents the same day.
• In other words, the carbon tax has been a blessing for Smith as she deflects attention away from her own government’s role in raising gas prices.

Double standards

• For instance, some homeowners have blamed the carbon tax for higher electricity bills in Alberta, ignoring the fact that the carbon tax does not apply to the electricity sector.
• Double standards abound on the carbon tax.
• While protesters chant “Axe the tax,” they ignore that fossil fuel subsidies cost them more than the carbon tax.

Textbook economics backs carbon tax

• As an economics instructor, a key lesson is that the carbon tax is the least costly method to address carbon emissions.
• In my pedagogical paper on climate change, I refer to McGill University economist Chris Ragan, who states that the carbon tax is more efficient than regulation.
• But the carbon tax incentivizes investment in new technologies to limit the tax payment.

The limits of textbook economics

• The way textbook economics approaches climate change through externalities suggests it’s simply a minor aberration.
• Energy and raw materials are ignored, which means that biophysical or ecological limits are disregarded in the pursuit of growth.
• Keen argues that mainstream economics assumes 90 per cent of GDP will be unaffected by climate change.
• In short, he argues, mainstream economics has been complicit in the existential crisis of climate change.

Radical solutions

• But it may be too little too late, necessitating radical solutions beyond the carbon tax.
• In this regard, Keen argues that carbon pricing is not enough, calling for carbon rationing.
• This happens by going beyond textbook economics and technical jargon by highlighting the ecological and biophysical limits to growth.

I am not affiliated with any organization. Though, I have in the past done research assistance work for the Parkland Institute.

• NÜRTINGEN, Germany – March 14, 2024 – ADS-TEC Energy plc (“ADS-TEC Energy”, “Company”, “we”, “our” or “us”) (NASDAQ: ADSE), a global leader in battery-buffered, ultra-fast charging technology, is very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Andreas Fabritius to its Board of Directors.
• “We are delighted to announce that Dr. Andreas Fabritius has joined our Board of Directors,” stated Dr. Kurt Lauk, Chairman of the Board of Directors.
• “With a strong track record as an international lawyer, he will strengthen our Board in our high growth market and further improve our ability to provide shareholder value.
• His extensive international experience and high professional standing compliments our Board in the best possible way.”
  “I am delighted to join the Board of Directors of ADS-TEC Energy.

• Shareholders Profit Surged by Four Times
  HONG KONG, Mar 19, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited ("CALC" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group"; SEHK stock code: 01848), a full value chain aircraft solutions provider for the global aviation industry, is pleased to announce its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2023 (the "Review Year").
• Together with the 2023 interim dividend of HK$0.15 per share already paid, total dividend payout for the year 2023 amounted to HK$0.30 (2022: HK$0.30 per share).
• The Company has resumed its scrip dividend scheme for the final dividend for 2023.
• As at 31 December 2023, the Group had cash and cash equivalents amounting to HK$5,300 million up 49.1% year-on-year.