Great thread by @GernotWagner detailing why the currently fashionable holiday for gas taxes (such as the one that recently went into effect in our home state, Maryland) is probably not the best idea. The basic idea (in his Bloomberg column): higher prices motivate people to use their cars less, and that's a good thing. Rather than making gas cheaper, we should just give people money to let them make up the difference in their own way. As he puts it, "Don't decrease energy prices. You'll encourage consumers to use more of it, and you'll send more $€¥£ to Putin."
