Selling, subsidising or at no cost - online discussion starting February 18th

A new HEDON CleanAirSIG discussion will examine the view that for goods to be valued, those obtaining them need to pay money for them: starting Monday February 18th

The next discussion on CleanAirSIG will examine the view that for goods to be valued, those obtaining them need to pay money for them. This discussion, based on a paper by Christopher Shea in the Boston Globe, and highlighted by Eva Rehfuess of WHO, examines whether the current philosophy of sustainability - creating markets and institutions that will flourish after Western donors have gone home - is failing to benefit large numbers of vulnerable people (see: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2007/11/11/a_handout_not_a_hand_up/ ).

This discussion will be launched on Monday, February 18th, and is planned to last for around one month. I am currently seeking permission to get the text of the Boston Globe article on the HEDON site. The discussion will seek to look at various options, and I would encourage anyone with strong views to argue for or against each option as well as making comparisons based on their own experiences.

Visit the CleanAirSIG Subsidies page here

We would be very happy to receive one-page statements that will be pasted in full on the CleanAirSIG site for others to add comment. I suggest that we agree to highlight each of the topic areas listed below, one week at a time, though there will obviously be overlap:

• Subsidies and targeted subsidies
• Full-market price
• Giving things away for free
• Saving schemes, microcredit etc.