If I give you $1 every year, would you give me $59 in return every year? Chances are, you wouldn’t. However, if I were an oil company and you were a member of Congress that’s exactly what happens, except you aren’t giving out your money.
As gas prices increase and the oil industry has it’s grip on the political establishment in Washington, author Bill McKibben gives five suggestions on how and why governments should and should not dole out subsidies.
- Don’t subsidize those who already have plenty of cash on hand.
- Don’t subsidize people forever.
- Sometimes you’ll subsidize something for a sensible reason and it won’t work out.
- Don’t subsidize something you want less of.
- Don’t give subsidies to people who have given you cash
It’s not a perfect set of rules on how a government should handle subsidies, but it’s a start.