PA/CDAE 395/295 -Green Finance in Vermont- Subsidy Reform

Fall 2010

3 credit hours

Location: TBD

Enrollment limit: 20

Pre-requisites: Graduate standing or permission

Instructor

Gary Flomenhoft, Faculty CDAE/Gund

Required Reading

Perverse Subsidies: How Misused Tax Dollars Harm the Environment and the Economy

Norman Myers

# Hardcover: 240 pages

# Publisher: Island Press; 1 edition (April 1, 2001)

# Language: English

# ISBN-10: 1559638346

# ISBN-13: 978-1559638340

Course Description

In a time of constrained budgets and economic insecurity, it is essential to leave no stone unturned in finding public revenue to fund public goods in Vermont. Many state jobs and programs have already been cut, and education funding is under threat.

One overlooked source of revenues are perverse subsidies, which are government allocations, tax credits, deductions, exemptions or other payments to items which are harmful to the economy and the environment. For example, in order to level the playing field between traditional forms of energy and renewable energy, renewable energy is sometimes given subsidies to offset those to fossil fuels and nuclear power. So in the end taxpayers pay double, for something that could be achieved by removing existing subsidies and saving taxpayers money.

Analyzing subsidies and waste in government has been done in the past by the “Grace Commission” under President Reagan, by the Green Scissors Project sponsored by Friends of the Earth, and by The Pew Charitable Trust, subsidyscope project.

In this course students will analyze the Vermont state budget and issue a report on subsidies that are found to be harmful to the state. This report follows the previous reports on state finance conducted by PA students on Green Taxes (2004) and Common Assets (2008).

Course Schedule

Part One – Literature review of subsidies worldwide

Part Two – Analysis of Vermont State budget for subsidies

Part Three – Recommendations for subsidy reform

Grading

Participation 10%

Literature review 10%

2 short Papers 40%

Final Policy paper 40%