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10 comments on How to avoid a windfall profits tax

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odograph on September 14, 2005 - 11:30am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Recycling an econbrowser comment slightly, I think it is important to understand the complex public-private interaction in transportation and fuels.

One of my peeves is that out there in the world I hear the current gasoline price system described as a free market. I know it's not, but I don't know how to describe how free it is:

Government builds roads (and regulates their use).

Private (or semi-nationalized?) companies build cars.

Private (or semi-nationalized!) companies provide oil.

... it is a munge.

I could certainly see a that "a windfall profits tax with an exploration exemption clause" would fit right into that munge.

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fatbear on September 14, 2005 - 11:49am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
munge?? Qu'est-ce que c'est?
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odograph on September 14, 2005 - 12:04pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
It's a programmer's word.  I actually looked it up to make sure it was out there before I posted ;-).  I think of it as two things pushed together in a messy fashion, but the dictionary I found lists it slightly differently:

"According to The New Hacker's Dictionary, munge (pronounced MUHNJ) is (1) a verb, used in a derogatory sense, meaning to imperfectly transform information, or (2) a noun meaning a comprehensive rewrite of a routine, data structure, or the whole program.

The editor of The New Hacker's Dictionary relates munge to mung, a verb meaning to make large-scale changes to a file or to destroy something, accidentally or maliciously. Mung was reported to be an acronym for 'Mash until no good.'"

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci214416,00.html

I fugured "imperfectly transform" worked for transportation politics ;-)

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10 comments on How to avoid a windfall profits tax

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