Hmm, I didn’t have the zero-carbon commitment in mind when I wrote this, but you’re right, this post’s idea is basically just a wider application of that. Although I do think my subsequent post is probably more novel (see here: Enforcing Far-Future Contracts for Governments).
As far as the tax changes go, I completely agree, forewarning is great, and totally underutilised. There’s also a faster alternative, which is to nullify any immediate wealth transfers that result from the change. So for instance, if you’re lowering the corporate tax, stock prices will increase, which disproportionately benefits people who are more invested in stocks than, say, real estate. The downside of this is that it requires a very large number of accurate counterfactual valuations (in order to determine the difference). So it’s much easier just to give forewarning.
Hmm, I didn’t have the zero-carbon commitment in mind when I wrote this, but you’re right, this post’s idea is basically just a wider application of that. Although I do think my subsequent post is probably more novel (see here: Enforcing Far-Future Contracts for Governments).
As far as the tax changes go, I completely agree, forewarning is great, and totally underutilised. There’s also a faster alternative, which is to nullify any immediate wealth transfers that result from the change. So for instance, if you’re lowering the corporate tax, stock prices will increase, which disproportionately benefits people who are more invested in stocks than, say, real estate. The downside of this is that it requires a very large number of accurate counterfactual valuations (in order to determine the difference). So it’s much easier just to give forewarning.