The Design of the Tax System
Chapter 12
“In this world nothing is certain but
death and taxes.”
.,,Benjamin Franklin
0
20
40
60
80
100
1789
Taxes paid in Ben
Franklin’s time
accounted for 5
percent of the
average American’s
income.
0
20
40
60
80
100
1789 Today
Today,taxes
account for up
to a third of the
average
American’s
income.
“In this world nothing is certain but
death and taxes.”
.,,Benjamin Franklin
Government Revenue as a
Percentage of GDP
F r an c e 38.8
U n i t ed K i n g d o m 33.7
G er m an y 29.4
B r azi l 19.7
U n i t ed S t at es 19.3
C an ad a 18.5
R u s s i a 17.4
I n d o n es i a 14.7
P ak i s t an 15.3
Mexi c o 12.8
I n d i a 10.3
Central Government Tax Revenue
as a Percentage of GDP
The Federal Government
The U.S,federal government collects
about two-thirds of the taxes in the
economy.
The largest source of revenue for the
federal government is the individual
income tax.
Receipts of the Federal
Government,1999 vs,2001
T a x ( 1 9 9 9 ) A m o u n t
( b i l l i o n s )
A m o u n t
( p e r p e r s o n )
P e r c e n t
o f R e c e i p t s
I n d i v i d u a l i n c o m e t a x e s $869 $ 3,1 9 4 48%
S o c i a l i n s u r a n c e t a x e s 609 2,2 3 9 34
C o r p o r a t e i n c o m e t a x e s 182 669 10
O t h e r 146 537 8
T o t a l $ 1,8 0 6 $ 6,6 3 9 100%
T a x ( 2 0 0 1 ) A m o u n t
( b i l l i o n s )
A m o u n t
( p e r p e r s o n )
P e r c e n t
o f R e c e i p t s
I n d i v i d u a l i n c o m e t a x e s $994 $ 3,4 8 8 50%
S o c i a l i n s u r a n c e t a x e s 694 2,4 3 5 35%
C o r p o r a t e i n c o m e t a x e s 151 530 8%
O t h e r 152 533 8%
T o t a l $ 1,9 9 1 $ 6,9 8 6 100%
Tax Liability
With respect to paying income taxes,an
individual’s tax liability (how much
he/she owes) is based on total income.
The marginal tax rate is the tax rate
applied to each additional dollar of
income.
Higher-income families pay a larger
percentage of their income in taxes.
Federal Income Tax rate,
1999 vs,2001
O n T axab l e In come … T he T ax Ra t e I s,,,
U p t o $25,75 0 15.0 %
F rom $25,750 t o $ 62,4 50 28.0
F rom $62,450 t o $ 130,250 31.0
F rom $13 0,250 t o $ 28 3,15 0 36.0
O ver $ 283,15 0 39.6
O n T axab l e In come … T he T ax Ra t e I s,,,
U p t o $2 7,0 50 15.0 %
F rom $2 7,0 50 t o $ 6 5,5 50 2 7,5
F rom $6 5,5 50 t o $ 13 6,7 50 3 0,5
F rom $13 6,7 50 t o $ 2 97,3 50 3 5,5
O ver $ 2 97,3 50 39,1
1999
2001
Federal Government Spending,
1999
Category Amount(billions) Amount perPerson Percent ofSpending
Social security $ 393 $1,445 23%
National defense 277 1,018 16
Net interest 243 893 14
Income security 227 837 13
Medicare 205 754 12
Health 143 526 8
Other 239 879 14
Total $1,727 $6,350 100%
Federal Government Spending:
2001
Category Amount Amount Percent(billions) per Person of Spending
Social Security $433 $1,519 23%
National Defense 309 1,084 17
Income Security 270 947 14
Net Interest 206 723 11
Medicare 217 761 12
Health 173 607 9
Other 256 898 14
Total $1,864 $6,540 100%
Financial Conditions of the
Federal Budget
A budget deficit occurs when there is an
excess of government spending over
government receipts.
Government finances the deficit by
borrowing from the public.
A budget surplus occurs when
government receipts are greater than
government spending.
A budget surplus may be used to reduce
the government’s outstanding debts.
Taxes and Efficiency
Policymakers have two objectives in
designing a tax system:
– Efficiency
– Equity
One tax system is more efficient than
another if it raises the same amount of
revenue at a smaller cost to taxpayers,
An efficient tax system is one that imposes
the smallest deadweight losses and
administrative burdens possible,
The Cost of Taxes to Taxpayers
The tax payment itself
Deadweight losses
Administrative burdens
Deadweight Losses of Taxation
Because taxes distort incentives,they
entail deadweight losses.
The deadweight loss of a tax is the
reduction of the economic well-being of
taxpayers in excess of the amount of
revenue raised by the government.
Administrative Burdens
Complying with tax laws creates additional
deadweight losses,
Taxpayers lose additional time and money
spent documenting,computing,and
avoiding taxes over and above the actual
taxes they pay.
The administrative burden of any tax
system is part of the inefficiency it creates.
Marginal Taxes Rates vs,
Average Tax Rates
The average tax rate is total taxes paid
divided by total income.
The marginal tax rate is the extra taxes
paid on an additional dollar of income.
Lump-Sum Taxes
A lump-sum tax is a tax that is the same
amount for every person,regardless of
earnings or any actions that the person
might take.
Taxes and Equity
How should the burden of taxes be
divided among the population?
How do we evaluate whether a tax system
is fair?
Principles of taxation
– The Benefits Principle
– The Ability-to-Pay Principle
Benefits Principle
The benefits principle is the idea that
people should pay taxes based on the
benefits they receive from government
services.
An example is a gasoline tax:
– Tax revenues from a gasoline tax are used to
finance our highway system.
– People who drive the most also pay the most
toward maintaining roads.
Ability-to-Pay Principle
The ability-to-pay principle is the idea that
taxes should be levied on a person
according to how well that person can
shoulder the burden.
The ability-to-pay principle leads to two
corollary notions of equity.
– Vertical equity
– Horizontal equity
Vertical Equity
Vertical equity is the idea that taxpayers
with a greater ability to pay taxes should
pay larger amounts.
For example,people with higher incomes
should pay more than people with lower
incomes,
Vertical Equity and
Alternative Tax Systems
A proportional tax is one for which high-
income and low-income taxpayers pay the
same fraction of income.
A regressive tax is one for which high-
income taxpayers pay a smaller fraction of
their income than do low-income taxpayers.
A progressive tax is one for which high-
income taxpayers pay a larger fraction of
their income than do low-income taxpayers.
Three Tax Systems
Proportional Tax Regressive Tax Progressive Tax
Income Amount of Tax Percent of Income Amount of Tax Percent of Income Amount of Tax Percent of Income
$50,000 12,500 25% $15,000 30% $10,000 20%
100,000 25,000 25 25,000 25 25,000 25
200,000 50,000 25 40,000 20 60,000 30
The Burden of Federal Taxes
Quintile
Ave rage
I ncom e
Ta x e s a s a
Percent of
I ncom e
Percent
of Al l
I ncom e
Percent of
All Ta x e s
L ow est $ 9,8 8 0 8,0% 4% 1%
S econd 2 6,1 0 0 1 5,6 11 7
Mid d le 4 4,3 0 0 2 0,3 16 13
Fourth 6 8,2 0 0 2 3,1 20 19
H ighe st 1 7 4,0 0 0 2 9,1 49 59
1997
Horizontal Equity
Horizontal equity is the idea that
taxpayers with similar abilities to pay
taxes should pay the same amounts,
For example,two families with the same
number of dependents and the same
income living in different parts of the
country should pay the same federal taxes.
The,Marriage Tax”
Marriage affects the tax liability of a
couple in that tax law treats a married
couple as a single taxpayer,
When a couple gets married,they stop
paying taxes as individuals and start
paying taxes as a family,
If each has a similar income,their total tax
liability rises when they get married.
Tax Incidence and Tax Equity
The difficulty in formulating tax policy is
balancing the often conflicting goals of
efficiency and equity.
The study of who bears the burden of
taxes is central to evaluating tax equity.
This study is called tax incidence.
Flypaper Theory of Tax Incidence
According to the flypaper theory,the
burden of a tax,like a fly on flypaper,
sticks wherever it first lands.
The Assumption is Rarely valid.
The Flat Tax
First proposed by economist Robert Hall
in the 1980s.
Proposed as an alternative to the current
tax system.
A single,low tax rate would apply to all
income in the economy.
Proposed Benefits
of the Flat Tax
Flat-tax advocates claim that this change would
expand the size of the economic pie.
Because the flat tax is simple,the administrative
burden of taxation would be greatly reduced.
Because all taxpayers would be faced with the
same marginal tax rate,the tax could be
collected at the source of income.
The flat tax would replace both the personal and
corporate income taxes and would eliminate the
current double taxation of corporate profits.
The flat tax could increase the incentive to save.
Summary
The U.S,government raises revenue using
various taxes.
Income taxes and payroll taxes raise the most
revenue for the federal government.
Equity and efficiency are the two most
important goals of the tax system.
The efficiency of a tax system refers to the
costs it imposes on the taxpayers.
The equity of a tax system concerns whether
the tax burden is distributed fairly among the
population.
Summary
According to the benefits principle,it is fair
for people to pay taxes based on the benefits
they receive from the government.
According to the ability-to-pay principle,it is
fair for people to pay taxes on their capability
to handle the financial burden.
The distribution of tax burdens is not the
same as the distribution of tax bills.
Much of the debate over tax policy arises
because people give different weights to the
two goals of efficiency and equity.
Data in China
2006年中国税收总额 3.76万亿元,GDP20.9万亿元 /2.58万亿美元，同年日本税收总额 3.2万亿元,GDP5万亿美元。普华永道报告称如 47种税严格征收则 50%的 GDP将上交为税收。
财政收入 3.9万亿元。 2006年预算执行中央支出 2.34万亿，地方 3.1万亿。
2003年财政总支出为 24649亿元，其中经济 7410亿，社会文教卫生 6469亿（其中文教卫生 4505亿，抚恤救济 498亿）国防 1907亿，行政 4697亿，其他 4170亿。
2006年美国国防支出为 4600亿美元，中国为 3509亿元人民币。
2006年，个税为 2452亿元,VAT12894亿元，接下来为营业税，消费税，印花税等。
2007年,福布斯,,全球税负痛苦指数排行榜”中税负痛苦指数 152，列全球第三，亚洲第一。 2005年全球第二。总体上原欧共体 15国和中国最高。香港亚洲最低。
经济学可以更有趣
为什么笔记本可以在任何国家使用而其他大部分家用电器则不行？（ 110 vs,220）
为什么自动售报机比饮料自动售卖机安全性更低?
为什么在美国看电影不用对号入座而我们却要？为什么在美国一张电影票可以看几部电影而我们不行？
经济学可以更有趣
对你生活中习以为常的事情进行再思考：
手机通讯费
人口控制
粮票时代 50-80
枪支
毒品
色情业填词游戏
有关目前便宜的 _____供给之持续期的问题，不能不引发我们浓厚的兴趣与焦虑。 …… 发现将成为一种越来越有效的媒介的趋势，而当我们拥有的
______使用耗竭时，会有更大能量的替代物来临的可能性并不存在 …… 。我们不能以从别国进口的方式来弥补未来对 _____的需求。考虑一下我们的 (工业产量 )在多大的程度上依赖于 ______以及我们对它的消费，与其他国家相比，是多么地广泛。不能设想我们将会没有 ____，而比我们拥有它所做的更多 …… 。由此可以简单地推论：我们不能长时期地以我们现有的使用速率持续下去。
煤炭
选自,煤炭问题,,英国经济学家杰文斯,1865年。
直到 15世纪，大多数英国人对树木有可能短缺的想法持嘲讽态度。然而，从大约 1550～ 1625年，英伦三岛因农业和贸易的拓展而出现毁林行为。伴随着人口的倍增，树木变得越来越稀疏。
结果当然是，木材的价格上升得几乎比其他所有商品的价格更为迅速。到了 1640年，伦敦人依赖于用煤取暖，而不顾其产生的烟尘。那些曾因炭火使其器皿黯然失色，而对煤炭嗤之以鼻的工匠们，则几乎排斥一切地专用煤炭来做燃料。
到了 18世纪，英伦三岛几乎完全转而使用煤炭。
现在我们知道的是，煤炭并没有枯竭。今天煤的可恢复储量相当于 12兆桶石油的能量。
美国能源的变迁
在电力广泛使用以前，照明的主要来源是？
鲸鱼油
在美国内战时期，鲸鱼油的需求量大幅度地增加，
并且供给且急剧下降（征用和破坏）。
抹香鲸鱼油从 1823年的 43美分一加仑涨至 1866年的
2.55美元一加仑的天价。美国人还能在晚上看书吗
1867年，发生了什么？
煤油！
1896年抹香鲸鱼油的价格为 40美分一加仑。
石油时代来临
现在我们开始谈论石油的枯竭。
石油价格的变迁
1960年，每加仑普通汽油的价格是 31美分,1977年上升到 63美分，上涨了 103.2％。然而同期，所有商品价格平均上涨了 103.1％。
1973年 1月 1日，“欧佩克”制定的来自沙特阿拉伯的石油价格为每桶 2.12美元，到了 1982年，价格上升到每桶 32.42美元。
自 1973年底到 1983年，世界范围的原油生产总计达
900亿桶；新探明增加的储量已超过 1100亿桶。较高的石油价格已经引发了在北海、希腊沿海和墨西哥沿海的石油大发现。
事实上，从 1950年到 1970年，能源的真实价格几乎以 20％的速度下降。
国际原油价格 2002年还仅为每桶 24美元左右石油价格的变迁石油价格的变迁
据世界银行资料，目前石油消费占全球 GDP比重已从上世纪 80年代中期的 7%下降到现在的 1.5%。
据国际能源机构统计,1973年 OPEC占世界石油产量 55.5%，目前则只占 1/3左右。俄罗斯不断扩大原油出口，在其周边构建类似 OPEC的松散组织，为周边地区的石油输出国和消费国提供协商平台。挪威日产原油 300万桶，是仅次于沙特和俄罗斯的第三大石油出口国。哈萨克斯坦、墨西哥、
西非等国家和地区的市场占有率明显上升。
石油的总体依赖度降低。 1971年世界每千美元
GDP产值平均耗油 560公升,2002年降为 380公升，
2020年将继续降至 300公升以下。这主要得益于从上世纪 70年代以来，科技进步使新能源、新材料日益得到广泛应用。
中国石油企业的利润
在国际各大石油公司中，中石油 2006年的开支预算达到 1490亿元人民币，远远超过 BP的 150亿美元净利润（单位：亿元）
年度 中石油 中石化 中海油
2006 1422 506.6 309.3
2005 1334 395.6 253.2
2004 1029 322.8 161.9
2003 696 190.1 119.8
Chapter 12
“In this world nothing is certain but
death and taxes.”
.,,Benjamin Franklin
0
20
40
60
80
100
1789
Taxes paid in Ben
Franklin’s time
accounted for 5
percent of the
average American’s
income.
0
20
40
60
80
100
1789 Today
Today,taxes
account for up
to a third of the
average
American’s
income.
“In this world nothing is certain but
death and taxes.”
.,,Benjamin Franklin
Government Revenue as a
Percentage of GDP
F r an c e 38.8
U n i t ed K i n g d o m 33.7
G er m an y 29.4
B r azi l 19.7
U n i t ed S t at es 19.3
C an ad a 18.5
R u s s i a 17.4
I n d o n es i a 14.7
P ak i s t an 15.3
Mexi c o 12.8
I n d i a 10.3
Central Government Tax Revenue
as a Percentage of GDP
The Federal Government
The U.S,federal government collects
about two-thirds of the taxes in the
economy.
The largest source of revenue for the
federal government is the individual
income tax.
Receipts of the Federal
Government,1999 vs,2001
T a x ( 1 9 9 9 ) A m o u n t
( b i l l i o n s )
A m o u n t
( p e r p e r s o n )
P e r c e n t
o f R e c e i p t s
I n d i v i d u a l i n c o m e t a x e s $869 $ 3,1 9 4 48%
S o c i a l i n s u r a n c e t a x e s 609 2,2 3 9 34
C o r p o r a t e i n c o m e t a x e s 182 669 10
O t h e r 146 537 8
T o t a l $ 1,8 0 6 $ 6,6 3 9 100%
T a x ( 2 0 0 1 ) A m o u n t
( b i l l i o n s )
A m o u n t
( p e r p e r s o n )
P e r c e n t
o f R e c e i p t s
I n d i v i d u a l i n c o m e t a x e s $994 $ 3,4 8 8 50%
S o c i a l i n s u r a n c e t a x e s 694 2,4 3 5 35%
C o r p o r a t e i n c o m e t a x e s 151 530 8%
O t h e r 152 533 8%
T o t a l $ 1,9 9 1 $ 6,9 8 6 100%
Tax Liability
With respect to paying income taxes,an
individual’s tax liability (how much
he/she owes) is based on total income.
The marginal tax rate is the tax rate
applied to each additional dollar of
income.
Higher-income families pay a larger
percentage of their income in taxes.
Federal Income Tax rate,
1999 vs,2001
O n T axab l e In come … T he T ax Ra t e I s,,,
U p t o $25,75 0 15.0 %
F rom $25,750 t o $ 62,4 50 28.0
F rom $62,450 t o $ 130,250 31.0
F rom $13 0,250 t o $ 28 3,15 0 36.0
O ver $ 283,15 0 39.6
O n T axab l e In come … T he T ax Ra t e I s,,,
U p t o $2 7,0 50 15.0 %
F rom $2 7,0 50 t o $ 6 5,5 50 2 7,5
F rom $6 5,5 50 t o $ 13 6,7 50 3 0,5
F rom $13 6,7 50 t o $ 2 97,3 50 3 5,5
O ver $ 2 97,3 50 39,1
1999
2001
Federal Government Spending,
1999
Category Amount(billions) Amount perPerson Percent ofSpending
Social security $ 393 $1,445 23%
National defense 277 1,018 16
Net interest 243 893 14
Income security 227 837 13
Medicare 205 754 12
Health 143 526 8
Other 239 879 14
Total $1,727 $6,350 100%
Federal Government Spending:
2001
Category Amount Amount Percent(billions) per Person of Spending
Social Security $433 $1,519 23%
National Defense 309 1,084 17
Income Security 270 947 14
Net Interest 206 723 11
Medicare 217 761 12
Health 173 607 9
Other 256 898 14
Total $1,864 $6,540 100%
Financial Conditions of the
Federal Budget
A budget deficit occurs when there is an
excess of government spending over
government receipts.
Government finances the deficit by
borrowing from the public.
A budget surplus occurs when
government receipts are greater than
government spending.
A budget surplus may be used to reduce
the government’s outstanding debts.
Taxes and Efficiency
Policymakers have two objectives in
designing a tax system:
– Efficiency
– Equity
One tax system is more efficient than
another if it raises the same amount of
revenue at a smaller cost to taxpayers,
An efficient tax system is one that imposes
the smallest deadweight losses and
administrative burdens possible,
The Cost of Taxes to Taxpayers
The tax payment itself
Deadweight losses
Administrative burdens
Deadweight Losses of Taxation
Because taxes distort incentives,they
entail deadweight losses.
The deadweight loss of a tax is the
reduction of the economic well-being of
taxpayers in excess of the amount of
revenue raised by the government.
Administrative Burdens
Complying with tax laws creates additional
deadweight losses,
Taxpayers lose additional time and money
spent documenting,computing,and
avoiding taxes over and above the actual
taxes they pay.
The administrative burden of any tax
system is part of the inefficiency it creates.
Marginal Taxes Rates vs,
Average Tax Rates
The average tax rate is total taxes paid
divided by total income.
The marginal tax rate is the extra taxes
paid on an additional dollar of income.
Lump-Sum Taxes
A lump-sum tax is a tax that is the same
amount for every person,regardless of
earnings or any actions that the person
might take.
Taxes and Equity
How should the burden of taxes be
divided among the population?
How do we evaluate whether a tax system
is fair?
Principles of taxation
– The Benefits Principle
– The Ability-to-Pay Principle
Benefits Principle
The benefits principle is the idea that
people should pay taxes based on the
benefits they receive from government
services.
An example is a gasoline tax:
– Tax revenues from a gasoline tax are used to
finance our highway system.
– People who drive the most also pay the most
toward maintaining roads.
Ability-to-Pay Principle
The ability-to-pay principle is the idea that
taxes should be levied on a person
according to how well that person can
shoulder the burden.
The ability-to-pay principle leads to two
corollary notions of equity.
– Vertical equity
– Horizontal equity
Vertical Equity
Vertical equity is the idea that taxpayers
with a greater ability to pay taxes should
pay larger amounts.
For example,people with higher incomes
should pay more than people with lower
incomes,
Vertical Equity and
Alternative Tax Systems
A proportional tax is one for which high-
income and low-income taxpayers pay the
same fraction of income.
A regressive tax is one for which high-
income taxpayers pay a smaller fraction of
their income than do low-income taxpayers.
A progressive tax is one for which high-
income taxpayers pay a larger fraction of
their income than do low-income taxpayers.
Three Tax Systems
Proportional Tax Regressive Tax Progressive Tax
Income Amount of Tax Percent of Income Amount of Tax Percent of Income Amount of Tax Percent of Income
$50,000 12,500 25% $15,000 30% $10,000 20%
100,000 25,000 25 25,000 25 25,000 25
200,000 50,000 25 40,000 20 60,000 30
The Burden of Federal Taxes
Quintile
Ave rage
I ncom e
Ta x e s a s a
Percent of
I ncom e
Percent
of Al l
I ncom e
Percent of
All Ta x e s
L ow est $ 9,8 8 0 8,0% 4% 1%
S econd 2 6,1 0 0 1 5,6 11 7
Mid d le 4 4,3 0 0 2 0,3 16 13
Fourth 6 8,2 0 0 2 3,1 20 19
H ighe st 1 7 4,0 0 0 2 9,1 49 59
1997
Horizontal Equity
Horizontal equity is the idea that
taxpayers with similar abilities to pay
taxes should pay the same amounts,
For example,two families with the same
number of dependents and the same
income living in different parts of the
country should pay the same federal taxes.
The,Marriage Tax”
Marriage affects the tax liability of a
couple in that tax law treats a married
couple as a single taxpayer,
When a couple gets married,they stop
paying taxes as individuals and start
paying taxes as a family,
If each has a similar income,their total tax
liability rises when they get married.
Tax Incidence and Tax Equity
The difficulty in formulating tax policy is
balancing the often conflicting goals of
efficiency and equity.
The study of who bears the burden of
taxes is central to evaluating tax equity.
This study is called tax incidence.
Flypaper Theory of Tax Incidence
According to the flypaper theory,the
burden of a tax,like a fly on flypaper,
sticks wherever it first lands.
The Assumption is Rarely valid.
The Flat Tax
First proposed by economist Robert Hall
in the 1980s.
Proposed as an alternative to the current
tax system.
A single,low tax rate would apply to all
income in the economy.
Proposed Benefits
of the Flat Tax
Flat-tax advocates claim that this change would
expand the size of the economic pie.
Because the flat tax is simple,the administrative
burden of taxation would be greatly reduced.
Because all taxpayers would be faced with the
same marginal tax rate,the tax could be
collected at the source of income.
The flat tax would replace both the personal and
corporate income taxes and would eliminate the
current double taxation of corporate profits.
The flat tax could increase the incentive to save.
Summary
The U.S,government raises revenue using
various taxes.
Income taxes and payroll taxes raise the most
revenue for the federal government.
Equity and efficiency are the two most
important goals of the tax system.
The efficiency of a tax system refers to the
costs it imposes on the taxpayers.
The equity of a tax system concerns whether
the tax burden is distributed fairly among the
population.
Summary
According to the benefits principle,it is fair
for people to pay taxes based on the benefits
they receive from the government.
According to the ability-to-pay principle,it is
fair for people to pay taxes on their capability
to handle the financial burden.
The distribution of tax burdens is not the
same as the distribution of tax bills.
Much of the debate over tax policy arises
because people give different weights to the
two goals of efficiency and equity.
Data in China
2006年中国税收总额 3.76万亿元,GDP20.9万亿元 /2.58万亿美元，同年日本税收总额 3.2万亿元,GDP5万亿美元。普华永道报告称如 47种税严格征收则 50%的 GDP将上交为税收。
财政收入 3.9万亿元。 2006年预算执行中央支出 2.34万亿，地方 3.1万亿。
2003年财政总支出为 24649亿元，其中经济 7410亿，社会文教卫生 6469亿（其中文教卫生 4505亿，抚恤救济 498亿）国防 1907亿，行政 4697亿，其他 4170亿。
2006年美国国防支出为 4600亿美元，中国为 3509亿元人民币。
2006年，个税为 2452亿元,VAT12894亿元，接下来为营业税，消费税，印花税等。
2007年,福布斯,,全球税负痛苦指数排行榜”中税负痛苦指数 152，列全球第三，亚洲第一。 2005年全球第二。总体上原欧共体 15国和中国最高。香港亚洲最低。
经济学可以更有趣
为什么笔记本可以在任何国家使用而其他大部分家用电器则不行？（ 110 vs,220）
为什么自动售报机比饮料自动售卖机安全性更低?
为什么在美国看电影不用对号入座而我们却要？为什么在美国一张电影票可以看几部电影而我们不行？
经济学可以更有趣
对你生活中习以为常的事情进行再思考：
手机通讯费
人口控制
粮票时代 50-80
枪支
毒品
色情业填词游戏
有关目前便宜的 _____供给之持续期的问题，不能不引发我们浓厚的兴趣与焦虑。 …… 发现将成为一种越来越有效的媒介的趋势，而当我们拥有的
______使用耗竭时，会有更大能量的替代物来临的可能性并不存在 …… 。我们不能以从别国进口的方式来弥补未来对 _____的需求。考虑一下我们的 (工业产量 )在多大的程度上依赖于 ______以及我们对它的消费，与其他国家相比，是多么地广泛。不能设想我们将会没有 ____，而比我们拥有它所做的更多 …… 。由此可以简单地推论：我们不能长时期地以我们现有的使用速率持续下去。
煤炭
选自,煤炭问题,,英国经济学家杰文斯,1865年。
直到 15世纪，大多数英国人对树木有可能短缺的想法持嘲讽态度。然而，从大约 1550～ 1625年，英伦三岛因农业和贸易的拓展而出现毁林行为。伴随着人口的倍增，树木变得越来越稀疏。
结果当然是，木材的价格上升得几乎比其他所有商品的价格更为迅速。到了 1640年，伦敦人依赖于用煤取暖，而不顾其产生的烟尘。那些曾因炭火使其器皿黯然失色，而对煤炭嗤之以鼻的工匠们，则几乎排斥一切地专用煤炭来做燃料。
到了 18世纪，英伦三岛几乎完全转而使用煤炭。
现在我们知道的是，煤炭并没有枯竭。今天煤的可恢复储量相当于 12兆桶石油的能量。
美国能源的变迁
在电力广泛使用以前，照明的主要来源是？
鲸鱼油
在美国内战时期，鲸鱼油的需求量大幅度地增加，
并且供给且急剧下降（征用和破坏）。
抹香鲸鱼油从 1823年的 43美分一加仑涨至 1866年的
2.55美元一加仑的天价。美国人还能在晚上看书吗
1867年，发生了什么？
煤油！
1896年抹香鲸鱼油的价格为 40美分一加仑。
石油时代来临
现在我们开始谈论石油的枯竭。
石油价格的变迁
1960年，每加仑普通汽油的价格是 31美分,1977年上升到 63美分，上涨了 103.2％。然而同期，所有商品价格平均上涨了 103.1％。
1973年 1月 1日，“欧佩克”制定的来自沙特阿拉伯的石油价格为每桶 2.12美元，到了 1982年，价格上升到每桶 32.42美元。
自 1973年底到 1983年，世界范围的原油生产总计达
900亿桶；新探明增加的储量已超过 1100亿桶。较高的石油价格已经引发了在北海、希腊沿海和墨西哥沿海的石油大发现。
事实上，从 1950年到 1970年，能源的真实价格几乎以 20％的速度下降。
国际原油价格 2002年还仅为每桶 24美元左右石油价格的变迁石油价格的变迁
据世界银行资料，目前石油消费占全球 GDP比重已从上世纪 80年代中期的 7%下降到现在的 1.5%。
据国际能源机构统计,1973年 OPEC占世界石油产量 55.5%，目前则只占 1/3左右。俄罗斯不断扩大原油出口，在其周边构建类似 OPEC的松散组织，为周边地区的石油输出国和消费国提供协商平台。挪威日产原油 300万桶，是仅次于沙特和俄罗斯的第三大石油出口国。哈萨克斯坦、墨西哥、
西非等国家和地区的市场占有率明显上升。
石油的总体依赖度降低。 1971年世界每千美元
GDP产值平均耗油 560公升,2002年降为 380公升，
2020年将继续降至 300公升以下。这主要得益于从上世纪 70年代以来，科技进步使新能源、新材料日益得到广泛应用。
中国石油企业的利润
在国际各大石油公司中，中石油 2006年的开支预算达到 1490亿元人民币，远远超过 BP的 150亿美元净利润（单位：亿元）
年度 中石油 中石化 中海油
2006 1422 506.6 309.3
2005 1334 395.6 253.2
2004 1029 322.8 161.9
2003 696 190.1 119.8
