Pigou Club

The Pigou Club is an informal advocacy association created by economist Gregory Mankiw for economists and public commentators who publicly support higher Pigouvian taxes. Its name refers to Arthur Cecil Pigou, whose work helped establish the economic rationale for taxing activities that impose costs on others. In this framework, a Pigouvian tax is intended to bring private decision-making closer to the full social cost of an activity by charging for negative externalities such as pollution, congestion, or other environmental damage. The club is not presented as a conventional commercial brand, membership corporation, political party, or formally structured nonprofit. Rather, it functions as a public-facing label and coalition concept. Mankiw used the term in his writing and public advocacy to give visibility to a policy position that favors taxes on socially harmful activities, particularly gasoline and carbon emissions, while potentially reducing other taxes. The broader policy approach is often associated with environmental taxation, ecotaxes, or green tax shifts. The Pigou Club's central proposition is that governments should use prices to reflect external costs. A higher tax on gasoline or carbon-intensive energy, for example, could discourage consumption and investment patterns that produce pollution or greenhouse-gas emissions. Supporters commonly argue that such taxes can be more economically efficient than detailed regulation because they allow households and firms to choose how to respond. They may also favor using the revenue to reduce other taxes, return funds to the public, or finance public priorities, although the club label itself does not prescribe one universal revenue arrangement. The group became a recognizable reference point in public debates over gasoline taxation, climate policy, and the design of efficient environmental taxes. Its supporters have included economists and commentators associated with different political perspectives, illustrating that the argument for Pigouvian taxation is grounded in economic reasoning rather than belonging exclusively to one party or ideological movement. Public institutions and media organizations, including The Economist, The Washington Post editorial board, NPR's Planet Money, and The New York Times, have been identified in the relevant reference material as expressing support for Pigouvian approaches or related measures. Because the Pigou Club is an informal policy coalition rather than a product company, it has no documented product portfolio, retail presence, headquarters, public listing, or conventional corporate ownership. Its principal outputs are the policy arguments, essays, commentary, and public discussion associated with the club concept. The canonical Wikipedia subject is a list of supporters of Pigouvian taxes, which places the club within a wider intellectual and public-policy network rather than treating it as an independently incorporated organization.

The Pigou Club takes its name from Arthur Cecil Pigou, the economist associated with the idea that governments can correct negative externalities by imposing taxes on activities whose social costs exceed their private costs. The concept is rooted in the observation that market prices do not always account for pollution, congestion, climate damage, or other harms imposed on people who are not directly involved in a transaction. Economist Gregory Mankiw created the Pigou Club as an informal public-policy association. Rather than establishing a conventional membership organization with a corporate structure, the club provided a label for economists and public commentators who had publicly advocated higher Pigouvian taxes. Its formation and public presentation were associated with Mankiw's writings and blog-based policy advocacy, including a manifesto and an invitation encouraging people to identify with the club's position. The club's most prominent policy theme has been the use of higher taxes on gasoline, carbon, and other pollution-producing activities. The argument is that a tax can make the price of an activity better reflect its broader social cost, encouraging consumers and businesses to reduce harmful behavior or switch to cleaner alternatives. Advocates have also connected Pigouvian taxation with tax reform: revenue from environmental taxes could, depending on policy design, support reductions in other taxes or be returned to households. The Pigou Club was notable because its policy message attracted attention across conventional political boundaries. Although gasoline and carbon taxes are often discussed in partisan terms, the economic case for them can be framed as a market-based alternative or complement to prescriptive regulation. The club therefore served as a rhetorical and educational vehicle for presenting environmental taxation as an efficiency-oriented policy rather than solely as a conservation measure. The broader supporter network includes economists, commentators, and media institutions. The relevant canonical reference identifies The Economist, The Washington Post editorial board, NPR's Planet Money, and The New York Times as expressing support for Pigouvian policies or related proposals. It also records public debate over raising gasoline taxes and responses from critics, including references to a 'Nopigou Club.' These contrasting reactions indicate that the club's significance lies primarily in policy debate and agenda-setting rather than in commercial operations. There is no documented evidence in the supplied material of a formal headquarters, incorporated parent organization, public listing, paid product line, or continuing executive structure. The Pigou Club is best understood as an informal advocacy network and public-policy brand associated with the promotion of externality-correcting taxation. Its canonical Wikipedia placement under a list of supporters of Pigouvian taxes reinforces that it is part of a wider intellectual and institutional movement rather than a standalone company.

• Gregory Mankiw creates the Pigou Club

  [1]List of supporters of Pigouvian taxesen.wikipedia.org

  Economist Gregory Mankiw establishes the Pigou Club as an informal label for economists and commentators who publicly support higher Pigouvian taxes.

• The club promotes environmental tax debate

  [1]List of supporters of Pigouvian taxesen.wikipedia.org

  The Pigou Club becomes associated with public arguments for gasoline, carbon, and other ecotaxes intended to incorporate negative externalities into market prices.

An informal, economically oriented advocacy label supporting taxes designed to make market prices reflect negative externalities, especially pollution and climate-related costs.

• The Pigou Club Manifesto

  United States · International policy debate

  A manifesto associated with Gregory Mankiw's blog presented the club's case for higher Pigouvian taxes and invited public identification with the policy position.

  Outcome. The manifesto helped give a recognizable name and public platform to advocacy for externality-correcting taxes.

  Source
• Smart Taxes: An Open Invitation to Join the Pigou Club

  United States · International policy debate

  An open invitation connected the Pigou Club with the broader argument that well-designed taxes can improve economic efficiency by charging for socially harmful activities.

  Outcome. The initiative broadened the club's identity from a single policy proposal into a public network of supporters.

  Source

• Use an informal coalition model for tax advocacyStrategy

  Background

  The Pigou Club was framed as a group of economists and pundits rather than as a conventional corporation or formally administered membership body.

  Action taken

  Its public strategy centered on naming, publishing, and promoting a shared policy position favoring higher Pigouvian taxes.

  Aftermath

  The label became a reference point in debates over gasoline taxes, carbon pricing, and green tax reform.

  • The Nopigou Club — The opposing label represented criticism or resistance to the Pigou Club's tax position.

  Source

• The Pigou Club advocates higher Pigouvian taxes[1]List of supporters of Pigouvian taxesen.wikipedia.org

  Campaign

  Gregory Mankiw described the Pigou Club as a group of economists and public commentators who had publicly supported higher Pigouvian taxes. The initiative helped frame environmental taxation and related externality-correcting policies as a subject for broader public debate.

• Media organizations express support for Pigouvian policy approaches[1]List of supporters of Pigouvian taxesen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The Economist, The Washington Post editorial board, NPR's Planet Money, and The New York Times are identified as expressing support for Pigouvian policies or related environmental-tax arguments.

1. 1List of supporters of Pigouvian taxesen.wikipedia.org