, Columnist
Oil Tax Cuts Help the Kremlin and Punish Ukraine
Countries from the U.S. to Germany to Japan are pushing terrible energy policies. Rather than curbing, governments are boosting demand for fuel.
Roads are packed.
Photographer: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
The oil market is desperately in need of demand destruction. Governments should either be encouraging behavioral changes such as using more public transportation or allowing expensive fuel to force consumers to change.
Instead, industrialized countries are doing the opposite. Call it demand “construction.” From Germany to New Zealand, and from England to California, policymakers are either cutting taxes on gasoline and diesel or offering blanket, untargeted energy subsidies. Both will probably boost oil demand at the worst possible time.