The Oil Drum

10 comments on How to avoid a windfall profits tax

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spooky on September 14, 2005 - 10:19am

The french arrangement would force Total into exploration to offset their tax losses....hmmmm....no mention about whether the infrastructure is needed or if the exploration is successful or not. Seems like another dumb government move.

But my simple...honestly, truly simple and easy-to-answer question is this: Who makes aditional monies under a windfall profits tax?

Why, that would be the same group IMPOSING the tax, wouldn't it? A group that has no control over exploration or oil prices? A group eager to get it's hands on any windfall? A group who routinely imposes taxes on any and everything, even on the dead?

I think everybody has seen how well government conducts business - Katrina should be a lesson for everyone. I personally don't want to give them even more money to waste.....

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odograph on September 14, 2005 - 10:30am

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 - 10:49am

munge?? Qu'est-ce que c'est?

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odograph on September 14, 2005 - 11:04am

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 ;-)