全美45位顶尖经济学家（包括27位诺贝尔奖获得者、美联储3位前主席）2019年1月16日在华尔街日报发表关于以碳税应对气候变化的公开信，中文翻译如下（英语原文附后）：


全球气候变化是一个严重的问题，需要立即采取国家行动。以合理的经济原则为指导，我们共同提出以下政策建议。

一、碳税提供了最具成本效益的杠杆，以必要的规模和速度减少碳排放。通过纠正一个众所周知的市场失灵，碳税将发出强有力的价格信号，利用市场的无形之手引导经济参与者走向低碳未来。

二、碳税应该逐年增加，直到达到减排目标为止；同时确保碳税收入的中性，以避免对政府规模的争论。持续上涨的碳价将鼓励技术创新和大规模的基础设施发展，还将加速低碳商品和服务的传播。

三、足够稳定且逐步增加的碳税将取代各种效率较低的碳法规。用价格信号代替繁琐的法规将促进经济增长，并为企业长期投资清洁能源技术提供所需的监管确定性。

四、为防止碳泄漏并保护美国的竞争力，应建立基于边境的碳补偿系统。这一系统将确保高能效的美国公司在全球的竞争力，并激励其他国家采用类似的碳定价。

五、为了最大限度地提高碳税上涨的公平性和政治可行性，所有碳税收入都应通过平等的一次性回扣直接返还给美国公民。大多数美国家庭，包括最脆弱的家庭都将获益，所获得的“碳红利”将超过能源价格的提高。

公开信英文全文：

Global climate change is a serious problem calling for immediate national action. Guided by sound economic principles, we are united in the following policy recommendations.

I. A carbon tax offers the most cost-effective lever to reduce carbon emissions at the scale and speed that is necessary. By correcting a well-known market failure, a carbon tax will send a powerful price signal that harnesses the invisible hand of the marketplace to steer economic actors towards a low-carbon future.

II. A carbon tax should increase every year until emissions reductions goals are met and be revenue neutral to avoid debates over the size of government. A consistently rising carbon price will encourage technological innovation and large-scale infrastructure development. It will also accelerate the diffusion of carbon-efficient goods and services.

III. A sufficiently robust and gradually rising carbon tax will replace the need for various carbon regulations that are less efficient. Substituting a price signal for cumbersome regulations will promote economic growth and provide the regulatory certainty companies need for long-term investment in clean-energy alternatives.

IV. To prevent carbon leakage and to protect U.S. competitiveness, a border carbon adjustment system should be established. This system would enhance the competitiveness of American firms that are more energy-efficient than their global competitors. It would also create an incentive for other nations to adopt similar carbon pricing.

V. To maximize the fairness and political viability of a rising carbon tax, all the revenue should be returned directly to U.S. citizens through equal lump-sum rebates. The majority of American families, including the most vulnerable, will benefit financially by receiving more in “carbon dividends” than they pay in increased energy prices.

George Akerlof, Robert Aumann, Angus Deaton, Peter Diamond, Robert Engle, Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen, Oliver Hart, Bengt Holmström, Daniel Kahneman, Finn Kydland, Robert Lucas, Eric Maskin, Daniel McFadden, Robert Merton, Roger Myerson, Edmund Phelps, Alvin Roth, Thomas Sargent, Myron Scholes, Amartya Sen, William Sharpe, Robert Shiller, Christopher Sims, Robert Solow, Michael Spence and Richard Thaler are recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Paul Volcker is a former Federal Reserve chairman.

Martin Baily, Michael Boskin, Martin Feldstein, Jason Furman, Austan Goolsbee, Glenn Hubbard, Alan Krueger, Edward Lazear, N. Gregory Mankiw, Christina Romer, Harvey Rosen and Laura Tyson are former chairmen of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan and Janet Yellen have chaired both the Fed and the Council of Economic Advisers.

George Shultz and Lawrence Summers are former Treasury secretaries.
More information is available at www.clcouncil.org