The SO2Allowance Trading System: The Ironic History of a Grand Policy Experiment
回顾了1990年《清洁空气法修正案》启动的二氧化硫总量控制与交易制度，指出其虽有效但存在四大讽刺之处，包括政府做对事却因错因、铁路放松管制的意外贡献、保守派政治家的态度转变以及市场最终因政府干预而崩溃。
Two decades have passed since the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 launched a grand experiment in market-based environmental policy: the SO 2 cap-and-trade system. That system performed well but created four striking ironies: First, by creating this system to reduce SO 2 emissions to curb acid rain, the government did the right thing for the wrong reason. Second, a substantial source of this system's cost-effectiveness was an unanticipated consequence of earlier railroad deregulation. Third, it is ironic that cap-and-trade has come to be demonized by conservative politicians in recent years, as this market-based, cost-effective policy innovation was initially championed and implemented by Republican administrations. Fourth, court decisions and subsequent regulatory responses have led to the collapse of the SO 2 market, demonstrating that what the government gives, the government can take away.