I follow Tim O’Reilly on Twitter. He’s the founder and CEO of O’Reilly Media. You probably know of him from the technology books his company publishes with the illustrated animals on the covers.
He’s a very interesting person to follow. His comments cover a wide range of topics from the economy to the environment. Most of the time, his comments are re-tweets (RT) from other Twitters. This morning he tweeted the following:
RT @wattzon: http://url.ie/111y gas tax conversation – friedman chimes in: “price matters – when prices go up people change their habits”
The link takes you to a New York Times Op-Ed column written by Thomas Friedman. It’s a must read in my opinion. Friedman presents his position on raising the gasoline tax.
It’s interesting how his stance on raising the gas tax goes against the grain of rational thought. Our brain tells us that raising taxes is bad. Our brain tells us we finally got the price of gasoline down why would we want to raise it. How could he possibly be right?
Friedman is an expert on the economy. I am not. As such, I have to defer to the expert on matters like this. I have to assume he is right. I do not have the knowledge, background, or education to argue against his view. I have to rely on his peers to offer the opposing argument if there is one.
But what if Friedman is right. Does our new administration have the wherewithal to follow Friedman’s advice?
I hope so.
