环境税与资源定价

Environmental Taxes and Prices of Resources

在25年改革期间,中国在向市场经济过渡方面取得了令人瞩目的进展.中国大部分的生产和分销都实现了市场化,市场机制的效率在中国经济持续高速增长中起着明显的作用.

During its 25 years of reform China has made impressive progress in the transition to a market economy. Much of the production and distribution in China is managed through the market, and the efficiency of this mechanism is evident in the country＇s sustained rapid growth. While the market is good at many things, however, it is not good at everything. One place in particular where the market breaks down concerns the use of natural resources and the environment, particularly where some important resource is freely available. While China＇s record of production and GDP growth is fantastic, its record of environmental protection is not so good. There are a number of clear pieces of evidence of this, Of the 30 most air-polluted cities in the world, 20 are in China. The major river systems in China are heavily polluted. A recent public opinion survey in Beijing found that the two biggest complaints of citizens were air pollution and traffic congestion. Air and road space are good examples of free resources that the market will tend to overexploit unless the government takes some corrective measures, There are a number of different approaches to protecting precious resources, but one of the most effective ones is the use of environmental taxes and prices for natural resources. In this article we present three concrete examples of how some other countries have used environmental taxes and pricing to improve the quality of life for their citizens.