Australia – Carbon tax won’t hurt jobs according to OECD’s Report

Australia’s carbon tax is expected to have at most a moderate effect on employment within the country, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), predicts.

According to the OECD’s Employment Outlook 2012, “environmental taxes” were predicted to have a “modest overall effect on employment and little impact on the demand for skills”.

“Fossil-fuel industries will experience the steepest employment declines and renewable energy industries the sharpest increases,” the report reads. “Nevertheless, the resulting labour market changes will be modest compared with underlying rates of labour reallocation generally observed in OECD countries.

“The OECD’s modelling also suggests that any potentially negative effects of environmental taxes on employment can be offset if the revenue from higher environmental taxes is used to lower tax rates on labour income, rather than to make transfers directly to households.”

The report also noted that Australia’s labour market continued to perform well in comparison with other major developed countries with the country’s 5.1% unemployment rate in May 2012 being among the lowest in the OECD…

via Carbon tax won’t hurt jobs: OECD – skills, jobs, employment, carbon tax – Computerworld.