I was trying to think of an alternative, which the bankers could do, if they wanted, which would be narrowly focused on climate change. Like ESG, the idea is that it's something big financial actors can do without getting government on board.
First thought:
Just bid up the price of oil. Make it too expensive for the refiners. Drive gasoline up to $50/gallon. Every drop on the market, just buy up and do not burn.
There is an issue with this, of course, which is that it still (hugely) incentivises extraction. You don't want to have to physically store the stuff.
But you also can't pay for notional oil left underground: "Yeah, trust us, we didn't sell that barrel to somebody else for additional money."
Second thought:
You could subsidize the hell out of a substitute though, thereby killing demand. Investors poured money into Uber at a loss just so it could eat up market share, right? Why can't you do that with solar panels and electrification? (Where's my electric car paid for by the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fu... oh.) You can even create network/lockin effects: Electric cars cost half the price, so everybody buys one, so gas stations go out of business.
These are very expensive strategies, but they seem to directly use the price mechanism to try to achieve your goals. Is something cheaper and more efficient possible? Something about efficient markets would seem to imply that that isn't possible, to the extent that efficient markets exist...
Idea 3:
Continuing brainstorming --
- Naked-short futures for beachfront lots in Florida and Bangladesh?
- Buy (underpriced) insurance (basically PUTs) on same?
I feel a creative finance person could come up with lots of things.
First thought:
Just bid up the price of oil. Make it too expensive for the refiners. Drive gasoline up to $50/gallon. Every drop on the market, just buy up and do not burn.
There is an issue with this, of course, which is that it still (hugely) incentivises extraction. You don't want to have to physically store the stuff.
But you also can't pay for notional oil left underground: "Yeah, trust us, we didn't sell that barrel to somebody else for additional money."
Second thought:
You could subsidize the hell out of a substitute though, thereby killing demand. Investors poured money into Uber at a loss just so it could eat up market share, right? Why can't you do that with solar panels and electrification? (Where's my electric car paid for by the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fu... oh.) You can even create network/lockin effects: Electric cars cost half the price, so everybody buys one, so gas stations go out of business.
These are very expensive strategies, but they seem to directly use the price mechanism to try to achieve your goals. Is something cheaper and more efficient possible? Something about efficient markets would seem to imply that that isn't possible, to the extent that efficient markets exist...
Idea 3:
Continuing brainstorming --
- Naked-short futures for beachfront lots in Florida and Bangladesh?
- Buy (underpriced) insurance (basically PUTs) on same?
I feel a creative finance person could come up with lots of things.