Event Details

For economists, obesity, road congestion, or air pollution are variants of a similar problem: externalities. Economists' solution is to make users pay for the cost they impose on society: to tax fat, sugar, road use, or carbon emissions. While consensual among academic economists, the idea of taxing externalities is far from universally accepted. Are economists wrong, is society wrong, or is it all a matter of talking to each other? This panel aims to do precisely that.

The Department of Economics has invited three specialists involved in the policy side of the question.

• Luisa Dressler (OECD) will discuss carbon taxes. Luisa is an Economist at the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration since 2015. Her work focusses on the use of taxes as instruments for environmental policy and on tax incentives.
• Sophie Metcalfe (Institute for Government) will discuss the UK government's obesity strategy. Sophie is a researcher working in the Institute for Government’s policy making team. Her research specialises in why chronic policy problems persist, and lessons from past UK governments’ major policymaking success stories.
• Graeme Sheriff (Salford University) will discuss recent attempts to implement a road congestion charge in Manchester. Graeme is a reader at the school of health and society at the University of Salford andleads research at the interface of environmental sustainability and social justice.

This policy panel is aimed at a general audience and is part of a day of research workshop on the topic. If you'd like more information about the rest of the programme, please email r.foucart@lancaster.ac.uk. You can also email Renaud Foucart to confirm your attendance.