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ACCF NewsACCF President Challenges Candidates to Address “The next first 100 days”
In an op-ed in the widely read Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, ACCF President and CEO Mark Bloomfield warned that “Americans have come to expect a slate of vigorous policy proposals to tackle major economic and domestic issues at the birth of each presidency.” He added that the next U.S. President will have to “act quickly to capture the honeymoon period and jump-start a legacy.”
Click here to read “The next first 100 days.” ACCF Directors Nickles and Stenholm Outline Economic Impact of Carbon
Cuts
Former Senator Don Nickles and former Congressman Charles Stenholm stressed that “the economic debate over the cost of attempting to achieve (emission reductions) has gotten little attention despite the direct financial impact it will have on all our nation’s citizens” in their op-ed appearing in Investor’s Business Daily on April 14, 2008. Both former Senator Nickles and former Congressman Stenholm are members of the ACCF’s Board of Directors.
To read the op-ed, click here. ACCF/NAM Study Featured in Wall Street Journal Editorial The ACCF/NAM analysis of the “Economic Impact from the Proposed Lieberman-Warner Legislation to Reduce Global Carbon Emissions” was cited in an editorial in The Wall Street Journal on April 17, 2008. The Journal noted the study “…concludes that (the Lieberman-Warner bill) will result in as much as a 2.6% reduction in GDP by 2030.”
Click here to read “Carbon Slowdown.” ACCF Speaks Out on Impact of Lieberman/Warner Climate Bill
Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist, appeared on E&ETV on March 25, 2008 to discuss the impact of the America’s Climate Security Act of 2008 (the Lieberman-Warner bill) on the United States and on specific states.
To listen to the interview, please click here. ACCF/NAM Study of the Economic Impact of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) today unveiled a jointly commissioned study assessing the potential national and state economic impacts resulting from proposed climate change legislation, America’s Climate Security Act of 2007 (S. 2191), authored by U.S. Senators Joseph Lieberman and John Warner. The study utilized the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), the economy-wide energy model used by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. “How We Beat the ‘70s” In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, “How We Beat the ‘70s,” ACCF president and CEO Mark Bloomfield made the case for keeping the capital gains tax at its current rate of 15 percent. “Let’s consider that not keeping our capital gains tax at its current rate (15%) will put us at a disadvantage when competing for global capital. On Jan. 20, a new president and a new Congress will begin work on a new economic policy. The lessons from cutting capital gains taxes over the past 30 years shouldn’t be ignored,” he said. To read “How We Beat the ‘70s,” please click here. ACCF Op-Ed Calls for Permanency for Capital Gains, Dividend Tax Cuts in Investor’s Business Daily
“One way Congress can send a strong signal to Wall Street and Main Street and build an effective bulwark against recession and protect Americans’ jobs is to act now to make the soon-to-expire 2001 and 2003 cuts in capital gains and dividend taxes permanent,” Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist, stressed in her op-ed the appeared in Investors Business Daily, February 29, 2008.
To read the op-ed, please click here. ACCF Calls for Making Capital Gains, Dividend Tax Cuts Permanent
“Congress must make a larger commitment to tax relief if it is to save the nation from recession and job loss,” ACCF Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Margo Thorning wrote in an op-ed on February 8, 2008 in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Their to-do list for economic renewal should start with making the current tax rates for capital gains and dividends permanent.”
To read the op-ed, please click here. Capital Gains Tax Rates and the Economy
Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, appeared on Fox News with Neil Cavuto on January 31, 2008 to discuss the importance of maintaining low tax rates on capital gains, restraining the growth in entitlement spending, and avoiding climate change policies that slow U.S. economic and job growth.
To watch the video, please click here. Investor’s Business Daily Focuses on Sinai Tax Stimulus Study
“As economist Allen Sinai has noted in a study for the American Council for Capital Formation, (the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts) added 2.5% to GDP in 2004 alone,” Investor’s Business Daily observed in its analysis of the stimulus plan agreed to by the White House and congressional Democrats in an editorial, Enough to Get By, on February 24, 2008. To read the Investor’s Business Daily editorial, click here. ACCF Supports Pro-Growth Economic Stimulus
With the U.S. economy weakening, President Bush, members of Congress, and the leading presidential candidates from both parties are considering an array of fiscal policy incentives designed to bolster U.S. business investment and consumer spending. “Policymakers are right to focus on a fiscal stimulus package designed to boost the sagging U.S. economy,” ACCF President Mark Bloomfield told “BBC World” viewers on January 18. “BBC World” is the BBC’s commercially funded 24-hour news and information channel broadcast in more than 200 countries and territories across the globe. With an audience of some 76 million, it is the BBC’s biggest television service.
President Bush called on Congress to work with him on an economic growth package that is “big enough to make a difference” in the U.S. economy and that promotes both business investment and consumer spending. But, to put the economy on the right path, the ACCF believes the stimulus package should be larger than President Bush proposed with a focus on tax cuts, including cuts for business investment. Bloomfield called attention to new ACCF study, “The Role of Fiscal Policy in The Post-2001 U.S. Economic Expansion.” The study underscores the positive role that fiscal stimulus played in 2001-2003 economic slowdown. “We commend President Bush’s leadership in setting out the principles of an effective growth plan but the U.S. economy needs a boost equal to 2 percent of GDP to get the job done,” Bloomfield said. Study Finds Tax Reductions
Contributed Significantly to Post-2001 U.S. Economic Expansion A new ACCF special report presents highlights from an analysis by Dr. Allen Sinai, Decision Economics, Inc., of the impact of tax cuts and federal spending over the 2001-2006 period. The study concludes that tax cuts, including cuts in taxes on capital gains and dividends, were among the key factors that contributed substantially to the post-2001 expansion. Capital
Formation Newsletter • Clinton Advisor Speaks at ACCF Forum Energy Politics and the Need for Restraint
“Backed with tough rhetoric aimed at assuaging varying but vocal constituencies – from angry consumers to environmentally conscious voters – Congress has put forth a host of aggressive, and divergent, policies purportedly aimed at addressing the nation’s energy and environmental challenges,” former Senator Don Nickles and from Congressman Charles Stenholm, both ACCF directors, said in their commentary in Forbes.com, on November 9, 2007. “Sadly, the ‘energy’ bills coming out of both chambers contradict their implied intent. Instead, they would actually limit production of needed energy resources, raise energy costs and slow our economy.”
To
read the Nickles-Stenholm commentary, Lieberman-Warner Climate Change Bill Will Lead to Higher Energy Prices, Lost Jobs and Reduced GDP
“A major stumbling block to the U.S.’s meeting the targets set forth in America’s Climate Security Act of 2007 (S. 2191) is projected increases in covered emissions and population growth over the next several decades,” Dr. Margo Thorning explained to members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at a hearing on November 8, 2007. “Sharp cutbacks in U.S. energy use would be necessary to close the 55 percent gap in 2030 between projected emissions and the S. 2191 target.”
To read the testimony, please click here. To read the ACCF press release on the Lieberman-Warner bill, please click here. ACCF Perspective on Lieberman-Warner Climate Change Bill
In an interview on E&ETV on November 1, Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist, discussed why the Lieberman-Warner bill is not the direction the United States should take and that a carbon tax could be a more effective approach to GHG reductions. She also discussed the upcoming international climate talks in Bali, and indicated that the United States should stay focused on the "major economies" plan established last month.
To watch the interview, please click here. A Reality Check on Initiatives to Reduce GHG Emissions
A new ACCF report, "A Reality Check on Initiatives to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in California, Oregon, the Northeast and in Europe," describes the challenges facing states like California, Oregon and the northeastern states as they try to slow greenhouse gas emission growth. The study also reviews the slow progress in the European Union on GHG reduction and suggests cost-effective strategies and a global approach to slowing emission growth.
Please click here to read the study. ACCF Speaks Out on “Energy, Economic and International Issues in Global Warming Policy”
ACCF Chief Economist Dr. Margo Thorning testified on July 24 before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Private Sector and Consumer Solutions to Global Warming and Wildlife Protection. Dr. Thorning’s testimony, “Energy, Economic and International Issues in Global Warming Policy,” focused on cost-effective strategies for integrating three key policy goals: security of energy supplies, protection for the environment and global energy poverty reduction.
Click here to read Dr. Thorning’s executive summary and testimony. A Lobbying Lesson for Tax Cuts, from 1978
“Today, with a change in power in Congress and a crowded field of presidential hopefuls, tax policy is once again on the front burner,” ACCF President & CEO Mark Bloomfield stressed in an opinion piece in the “K Street Insiders” section of The Hill, a widely read congressional newspaper that publishes daily when Congress is in session. The article discussed the strategy needed to mount a successful effort to change public policy.
To read “A Lobbying Lesson for Tax Cuts, from 1978,” pleas click here. ACCF: Price-gouging
Legislation Could Be Costly ACCF Speaks
Out on “Price Gouging” Legislation ACCF Kicks Off Conversations with the Economic Advisers to the 2008 Presidential Candidates
Two key economic advisers to leading GOP presidential hopefuls addressed ACCF forums in March. Dr. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, director of Economic Policy for “John McCain 2008,” spoke on March 1st at the first session of the ACCF’s Conversations with the Economic Advisers to the 2008 Presidential Candidates. The Honorable N. Gregory Mankiw, former Chairman of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, and an outside adviser to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, briefed ACCF supporters at the second candidate forum on March 28th.
U.S. Tax Depreciation Rules for Energy Investment Less Favorable than Many Other Countries
A new study commissioned by the ACCF compares depreciation rates and effective tax rates for various energy investments for the United States and eleven foreign countries and finds that the U.S. generally has less favorable tax depreciation rules and higher tax rates for several key energy investments than many other countries, including a number of the U.S.’s major trading partners. The U.S. federal tax code not only hinders much needed energy investments but also makes it harder to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. The study was released at a Capitol Hill briefing keynoted by Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Representative Jim Mattheson (D-UT) on May 2, 2007.
Click here to see an Executive Summary of the study.
Click here to see the tax rate comparison graph.
Click here to see the cost recovery comparison graph. ACCF Study Shows Negative Economic Impact of Price Gouging Legislation American Council for Capital Formation The Honorable Charles Stenholm (D-TX), former Member of Congress, and the Honorable Bill Archer (R-TX), former Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, unveiled an ACCF study demonstrating the economic impact of potential price gouging legislation on energy consumers and suppliers at a briefing on Capitol Hill on April 10, 2007. The ACCF study reviews past efforts to control gasoline prices during periods of supply curtailment and evaluates the impact current legislative proposals would have on consumers and industry from an economic perspective.
“Gasbags,” an op-ed by former Ways and Means Committee Chairman Archer and former Congressman Stenholm highlighting the importance of the ACCF study’s findings, ran in The Wall Street Journal on April 19, 2007. Both serve as members of the ACCF’s Board of Directors. To read the Journal op-ed, click here. ACCF Participates in “Energy Summit 2007” American Council for Capital Formation ACCF Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Margo Thorning spoke on “Carbon Policy Economics” at the Heartland Institute’s “Energy Summit 2007” on March 17 in Chicago. The Energy Summit provided an intensive policy workshop on environment and energy policy for legislative advisers.
Please click here for Dr. Thorning’s presentation. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus Speaks to ACCF Supporters
“When you start a race, you need to know how far away the goal is,” Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Finance Committee, told ACCF supporters on February 6 at the first ACCF Capital Formation Forum of 2007. At the forum, Chairman Baucus discussed the tough road he anticipates to reach the tax, trade and energy policy objectives he hopes to achieve.
To read more about the ACCF forum with Finance Committee Chairman Baucus or other 2007 ACCF programs, click here for the January-February edition of “Capital Formation,” the newsletter of the ACCF. Incoming Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rangel Speaks at ACCF Forum
Just one week after the 2006 elections, Representative Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), who is expected to be the Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means in the 110th Congress beginning in January 2007, spoke to ACCF supporters and their guests at an ACCF Capital Formation Forum on November 14. Chairman Rangel sketched out some of the top items on his policy agenda and offered his perspective on how the Committee might best address issues ranging from taxes to trade, education, healthcare and Social Security.
Please click here for the complete article. New ACCF Research Demonstrates Beneficial Effects of Increased Use of Annuities On October 10, 2006, the ACCF hosted a forum at the National Press Club on “The Role of Annuities in Bolstering U.S. Retirement Security.” The ACCF forum featured new microeconomic research by Professor William M. Gentry, associate professor, Williams College, and Professor Casey Rothschild, assistant professor, Middlebury College, and a new macroeconomic analysis by Dr. Allen Sinai, chief global economist, strategist, and president, Dr. M. Cary Leahey, senior managing director and senior global economist, and Dr. Chip Curran, senior vice president and senior economist, Decision Economics, Inc. This Special Report summarizes the findings of both studies. To read the report, click here. Interview with Dr. Thorning Airs on KABC Radio in Los Angeles
A “go-it-alone” approach to emission reduction would be less effective than a global approach to reducing emissions, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist told Doug McIntyre, morning host on TalkRadio 790KABC in Los Angeles in an interview on climate policy issues on September 5, 2006.
Click here to listen to the KABC interview with Dr. Thorning. “The Economist” Cites ACCF Research on AB 32
“The American Council for Capital Formation says that AB 32 is likely to cause ‘leakage’ of industry and jobs to states with no emissions caps … and in practice yield no net reduction in greenhouse gases,” noted “The Economist” in its August 19, 2006 edition.
To read “The Economist” article, click here. ACCF Op-Ed in “Sacramento Bee”
“Another view: AB 32 is a bad idea for the state’s environment” by ACCF senior vice president and chief economist Margo Thorning appeared in “The Sacramento Bee” on August 14, 2006. The op-ed responded to an editorial in “The Sacramento Bee” calling for passage of Assembly Bill 32 which would impose new environmental regulations that would hurt the environment and damage the state’s growing economy.
To read the op-ed,
click here. ACCF, SBE Council Co-Sponsor Forum on Sarbanes-Oxley Bill
ACCF Comparison of Estate Tax Rates in Wall Street Journal On June 22, 2006, a chart prepared by the ACCF comparing estate tax rates in 14 countries was published in a Wall Street Journal editorial on Congressional action on the tax. Click here to read the editorial. ACCF Releases Report on California Bill to Cut CO2 Emissions
A new ACCF report shows that Californians could expect higher energy costs, millions of dollars in lost gross state product and widespread job loss under California's Assembly Bill 32. The report provides a wide body of economic forecasts on the arbitrary, California-only cap proposal currently pending in the California state legislature. Dr. Margo Thorning, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for the American Council for Capital Formation and author of the report, said, "AB 32 is likely to cause "leakage" of industry to states and countries with no mandatory emission caps resulting in job losses and no net reduction in GHGs. Given the quality and quantity of empirical research demonstrating that near-term targets and timetables for CO2 emissions reductions will negatively impact California without materially slowing the growth of global emissions, policymakers in California should consider carefully whether they want to proceed down this path alone." The California Chamber of Commerce (See California) released the ACCF report in Sacramento on June 15, 2006. Click here for the Press Release. Click here for the Full Report.
The outcome of the 2006 elections will depend to some extent on national issues, including the war in Iraq, high gasoline prices, immigration, and various scandals weighing on public perceptions of the candidates. Polls show substantial declines in support for President Bush among conservative and moderate Republicans, which creates a structural problem and is the impetus for legislation like the amendments banning same-sex marriages and flag burning. However, if Republicans work to increase support among conservatives, they risk losing the support of more moderate members of the party, which hurts moderate members of Congress. There is an uneasiness about the U.S. economy now that Mr. Dionne believes is based on concerns about the increased risk individuals are shouldering in today's economy. "Americans are trying to figure out how to preserve risk-taking in the economy while still allowing for some security," he concluded. “It Is the Estate Tax Rate That Matters,” ACCF Scholar Harvey Rosen Says
“As the debate on (the estate tax) … moves forward, it is important to focus on keeping the rate of the tax low because of the negative consequences that a high rate has on the economy,” Harvey S. Rosen, the John L. Weinberg Professor of Economics and Business Policy at Princeton University, former Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and a member of the ACCF’s Board of Scholars, noted in an op-ed appearing in MarketWatch on June 8, 2006. The Senate is set to begin consideration of the estate tax on June 8. Click here to read the article. ACCF Speaks Out on Economic Impact of Gore Approach to Climate Policy
“People may like the idea of government mandates to curb greenhouse gases, but they won’t like the sticker shock that comes from many of the proposed solutions,” Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist, said in an op-ed published in the “Baltimore Sun” on May 30, 2006. Dr. Thorning’s commentary addressed issues raised by Al Gore in the movie, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Click to read Dr. Thorning’s op-ed.
ACCF Participates in Senate Environment and Public Works Roundtable
ACCF Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Dr. Margo Thorning participated in a roundtable discussion of “Exploring Greenhouse Gas Technologies” sponsored by the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on May 25, 2006. Committee Chairman James M. Inhofe (R-OK) and Ranking Member James M. Jeffords (I-VT) opened the session and welcomed the invited experts from the energy industry, academia, and think tanks to the roundtable discussion.
Click here to see Dr. Thorning’s presentation. ACCF Chief Economist Interviewed on FOX News Documentary As Al Gore’s global warming movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” premiered in theatres, the Fox News Network aired its latest documentary coverage on climate change in a new program called “Global Warming: The Debate Continues,” on Sunday, May 21. ACCF Vice President and Chief Economist Margo Thorning was interviewed for this program on the harsh economic consequences of “cap and trade” systems under the Kyoto protocol and the impact such systems would have under similar proposals in the U.S. To listen to Dr. Thorning’s remarks, please click here. “Governor Got It Right on Global Warming”
“Saying he ‘didn’t want to scare businesses out of California,’ Governor Schwarzenegger suggested that California try reducing carbon dioxide emissions voluntarily. A look at the evidence suggests that his instinct is the right one,” Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist, noted in her op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle on May 5, 2006.
To read Dr. Thorning’s op-ed, “Governor Got It Right on Global Warming,” please click here. The March/April edition of "Capital Formation," the newsletter of the American Council for Capital Formation, is now available. To read the March/April edition of "Capital Formation," please click here. Can Annuities Enhance Retirement Lifestyles? Over the years, economic research has consistently demonstrated the potential importance of annuities for retirees. With baby boomers approaching retirement and the increased switching from defined benefit to defined contribution retirement plans, more has to be done to insure a responsible management of the payout phase of retirement. The ACCF’s Special Report, “Can Annuities Enhance Retirement Lifestyles,” provides background on annuities and on policies to insure a responsible management of the payout phase of retirement. Click here to read “Can Annuities Enhance Retirement Lifestyles?” NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” Hears from Dr. Margo Thorning Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist, participated in a live radio broadcast on “Talk of the Nation,” a national news-talk call-in show from NPR News hosted by Neal Conan, on April 18. In addition to Dr. Thorning, the panel featured climate policy experts Ted Nordhaus, co-founder of American Environics; Carl Pope, executive director, The Sierra Club; and Michael Gelobter, executive director, Redefining Progress. On the broadcast from San Francisco, home of Earth Day, Neal Conan and the panelists discussed the future of environmentalism.
To listen to Dr. Thorning’s comments on “Talk of the Nation,” please click here. ACCF Participates in California Climate Change Initiative Summit
Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist, spoke on Cost Effective Strategies for Climate Change Policy for California, the U.S. and the World as an invited witness at Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Climate Change Initiative Summit. The climate change summit was held in San Francisco on April 11, 2006.
To read Dr. Thorning’s statement, please click here.
ACCF Testifies before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Climate Conference
ACCF Chief Economist Speaks on “Future Directions in Climate Change Policy” American Council for Capital Formation Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist, addressed the Air & Waste Management Association’s conference in San Francisco, CA, on March 7, 2006. Dr. Thorning’s presentation was featured on the forum’s keynote panel on “Perspectives on How We Should Plan for the Future” during the plenary session of the conference.
Click here to see Dr. Thorning’s slides and the conference program. Investor’s Business Daily Cites ACCF Research
ACCF’s international comparison of top rates of taxation on dividends and capital gains in 19 of the largest OECD countries was published in an editorial in the Investor’s Business Daily on February 27, 2006. Published each weekday, Investor’s Business Daily is a national newspaper for investors and the business community.
Click here to read the IBD editorial. January-February, 2006, Vol. 31, N0. 1 • Noted Washington Post Columnist David Broder Speaks at ACCF Forum
“Texas utility companies are rising to the challenges of producing dependable and affordable electricity by seeking to add supply through coal-fired plants. But their efforts are being met with misguided opposition from green groups and many within the media,” Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist noted in an op-ed appearing in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on January 29, 2006.
Click here to read Dr. Thorning’s op-ed.
Energy Use and Economic Growth
“Energy use and economic growth go hand in hand,” ACCF senior vice president and chief economist Dr. Margo Thorning stressed in a Letter to the Editor published in the Washington Post on January 31, 2006. “The ACCF should reject mandatory programs, look to free-market policies based on technology and reducing energy intensity.”
Click here to read Dr. Thorning’s Letter to the Editor. ACCF Op-Ed on RGGI in Providence Journal
The Providence (RI) Journal published an op-ed by ACCF Senior Vice President and Chef Economist Dr. Margo Thorning on January 6, 2006 praising Rhode Island Governor Carcieri “for not bowing to political pressures that ignore the harsh economic realities of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).” The op-ed makes the point that if Rhode Island’s governor had signed on to RGGI, as seven Northeastern governors did last month, the state’s industrial base would shrink, its employment would be reduced and there would be no perceptible impact on the growth in global emissions.
Click here to read Dr. Thorning’s op-ed. November-December 2005, Vol. 30, N0. 6 • Rep. Jim McCrery Speaks at ACCF Association Council Fall Meeting ACCF Comments in The Washington Post
“… Margo Thorning, senior vice president for the free-market American Council for Capital Formation and managing director of the International Council for Capital Formation, said many European countries would not be able to meet their emissions targets (under the Kyoto Protocol) unless they adopted ‘stringent new measures that the governments don’t have the political will to do.’”
- The Washington Post, December 10, 2005
Click
here to read the full article. ACCF Commentary Runs in The Hill
As the Congressional tax and budget committees worked to complete tax and spending provisions of the 2006 Federal budget, an ACCF commentary, “Don’t Let the Sun Set on U.S. Saving and Investment” by ACCF President and CEO Mark Bloomfield, appeared in the Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill. The ACCF commentary calls for extending the 15 percent tax rate on dividends and capital gains through 2010 to provide certainty for savers and investors and help stabilize financial markets. Click here to read the ACCF commentary. Capital
Formation Newsletter • Don’t Let the Sun Set on U.S. Savings and Investment ACCF Testimony Shows EU Not Meeting Kyoto Goals
“The original 15 members of the European Union are projected to be 7% above the 1990 emission levels by 2010,” Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF Senior Vice President and Chief Economist told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in testimony on Wednesday, October 5, 2005. “EU policymakers are beginning to worry about the additional steps required to meet the targets, including the impact of emission trading schemes on industry.” Dr. Thorning’s testimony summarized the results of several economic models that analyzed the anticipated economic impact of the Kyoto Protocol on EU GDP and employment and the impact of the emission trading system on electricity prices. The ACCF testimony also questioned whether an international emission trading system could function effectively. Click here for Dr. Thorning's full testimony. ACCF Speaks Out on Regulation of In-State Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Bangor Daily News published an op-ed by ACCF Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Margo Thorning on “Greenhouse Gas Controls Bad Business.” The op-ed cites new economic research that shows the adverse economic consequences for Maine’s households, workers and state budget if the state adopts climate policy legislation modeled on a plan called for by the New England Governors/East Canadian Premiers’ agreement. “The people of Maine and the rest of the nation can best contribute to a better world by maintaining a healthy economy. Plans now being considered to regulate greenhouse gas emissions would be a step in the wrong direction because they lessen our ability to offer that help,” Dr. Thorning said.
Click here to read Dr. Thorning’s op-ed. ACCF Chief Economist Speaks at ALEC Meeting
Click here to view Dr. Thorning's presentation ACCF AND NAM RELEASE NEW STUDY SHOWING ENERGY SUPPLIES CRITICAL FOR U.S. ECONOMIC FUTURE The American Council for Capital Formation and the National Association of Manufacturers hosted a joint policy briefing on Capitol Hill on June 13 focusing on promoting U.S. competitiveness through comprehensive energy policy reforms. The briefing featured opening remarks by Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), a leading voice on U.S. energy policy, and a panel discussion of a new analysis by the macroeconomic consulting firm Global Insight contrasting the impact of policies that encourage energy production with policies that restrict the supply of energy. Governor John Engler, NAM president and an ACCF director, moderated the briefing. Dr. Margo Thorning, ACCF senior vice president and chief economist was joined by Mary Novak, managing director, Energy Services, Global Insight in presenting the findings of the macroeconomic study. The study included both a national overview of the impact of policy on energy production and supply and also separate studies on 17 individual states. To view these studies and findings, please click on the links below.
Dr. Margo Thorning's
presentation ACCF CLIMATE POLICY PAPER MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN MAINE Climate Change Policy: A Cost-Effective Strategy for the U.S. and Maine, by Dr. Margo Thorning, senior vice president and chief economist, with the American Council for Capital Formation, was released jointly by the Maine Heritage Policy Center (MHPC) and the ACCF on May 25, 2005. Dr.Thorning is also a senior visiting fellow of MHPC. In releasing the report, MHPC executive director Bill Becker noted, "The report represents a thorough quantitative analysis of how the 'targets and timetable' strategies to curb greenhouse gases would negatively impact the U.S. and Maine. Dr. Thorning's report displays the importance of cost-benefit analysis while crafting public policy," according to the Magic City Morning Star (Milnocket, ME, 5/25/05). To read the Magic City Morning Star article click on the link below. http://magic-city-news.com/article_3929.shtml
ACCF President on BBC |
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