Britain is leveling a carbon tax on air travel and the farther you fly the bigger the tax.
It seems like the right thing to do but on closer inspection it's anything but. In fact it is the most draconian anti-development move you could make. And how much of the tax will actually make it out of depleted Treasury coffers to help climate change?
Many of those distant destinations are poor today because their most valuable natural resources were extracted by colonial powers. And, we all know which was one of the biggest colonizers.
Think about it: Tourism is the largest voluntary flow of resources from the rich to the not-so-rich in faraway lands. For many remote islands it is the only real source of development money. So, what is U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown doing by creating this travel tax?
Yep. He is extracting the most valuable resource from these faraway lands, rather like his predecssors did with other resources in colonial times.
I have an idea: Brown is a canny Scot and distinguished money man (is that redundant?) so, for size, the U.K. government should offer $1,000 coupons to any of their citizens to travel to any developing world destination. The catch? You have to use the coupon within three months. You can't cash it and only travel agents or airlines can deposit the coupons.
Why? We're in a recession and the only way out of it is to get people to spend their money. To take a 10-day trip the traveler will have to dip into savings for the rest of the ticket plus accomodation and fun.Do the math, and you are looking at travelers spending multiples of the original $1,000 investment.
And, how do you get out of a recession? Spend. The coupons would pump thousands of dollars more into U.K. airlines - and don't forget how many other Brit firms benefit from the travel industry. But as development devotees - develotees? - we will be warmed by the thought of all that cash taken to developing countries by Brits fleeing the winter - with the help of HM Government.
On the political side - do you think when the next elections roll around, the Brits will remember a prime minister that gave them their time in the sun during one of the worst recessions of modern times?
You tell me.