Even among those economists who want the government to "do something" about global warming, most prefer an explicit carbon tax to the stealth tax of "cap and trade" under discussion in the Waxman-Markey bill. Many economists, even those employed by the federal government, have explained the technical reasons [.pdf] that a stealth tax of cap and trade could be more damaging to the economy than a transparent carbon tax. However, beyond these technical issues, cap and trade is also much more susceptible to simple corruption. Precisely because it is so confusing to the general public, the stealth tax of cap and trade allows politicians to transfer wealth from consumers and hand it over to special interests in a much more disguised fashion.
