Windfall taxes on energy companies are a bad idea
Governments should not seize the energy industry’s profits
WHENEVER OIL and gas are expensive, politicians’ eyes turn greedily to the profits of energy firms. Since energy prices began to surge last year Bulgaria, Italy, Romania and Spain have introduced new taxes on the industry. On March 8th the European Commission recommended that governments try to “capture a part of the returns” made by electricity generators. And in America 12 Democratic senators including Elizabeth Warren, a one-time presidential candidate, have proposed a tax on every barrel of oil big firms produce or import, equal to half the difference between the current oil price and the 2015-19 average.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Tilting at windfalls”
From the March 19th 2022 edition
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