Blog post

Cheap energy for the poor?

Publishing date: 06 July 2008
Authors: Jakob von Weizsäcker

Jakob von Weizsäcker argues that Barroso's recent suggestion to provide subsidised electricity runs counter the sound principles of the European social model of providing monetary transfers instead of distorting prices. Rather than subsidising energy, the German government should tax nuclear energy if the nuclear phase out is delayed and use part of the proceeds to provide financial assistance to the poor.

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About the authors

Jakob von Weizsäcker

Jakob von Weizsäcker heads the department for economic policy and tourism at the Thuringian Economics Ministry in Erfurt and is a non-resident fellow at Bruegel where he was resident fellow form 2005 to 2010.

He previously worked at the World Bank in Washington (2002-2005) where he was country economist for Tajikistan and the Federal Economics Ministry in Berlin (2001-2002) where he headed the office of a junior minister. Before that, he worked for Vesta, a venture capital firm, and held research positions at the Center for Economic Studies in Munich and CIRED in Paris.