There’s a war on conservativism, but it’s not coming from the Left. Whether it’s the Soros-funded Niskanen Center, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, or the Center for Responsible Energy Solutions, the goal is the same: push the Left’s global warming agenda on conservatives—and label it “free market.” But when it comes to their funding, these eco-cons have one message: Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! (Hayden Ludwig, Green Watch, Capital Research Center, November 5, 2019)

Unlimited money can buy a lot of things, including panels at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) annual meeting, hosted by the American Conservative Union, being held this week in Washington, DC. Two of the worst panels concern a disguised plea to implement a federal carbon tax on the pretense that such a policy will “win” the climate fight with the Left (wrong!…

“Niskanen’s @willwilkinson on the merits of @SenWarren. Yes people, you read that right. And I’m with him.” (Jerry Taylor, February 5, 2019)

The intellectual transformation of Jerry Taylor from libertarian (and libertarian enforcer) to shifty eclectic statist has been told elsewhere (here and here). Not surprisingly, his intellectual road to serfdom began with small steps and has grown to the point that fewer and fewer libertarians and conservatives trust his intellectual judgement.

Taylor’s statism has now attracted the gentlemanly ire of one of his advisory board members, Tyler Cowen, himself an eclectic but libertarian- leaning (he no longer describes himself as ‘classical liberal‘).

Professor Cowen recently wrote in “The Economic Policy of Elizabeth Warren” at Marginal Revolution (January 19, 2020):

Jerry Taylor has made some positive noises about her on Twitter lately, as had Will Wilkinson in earlier times.

Being “free and green” requires just what classical liberals and conservatives want: defeat of the anti-capitalist, anti-technology, anti-energy agenda. Market pricing, not carbon taxes. Open international trade, not carbon tariffs. Avoidance of one-world government in the perilous, futile crusade to “stabilize” the planet. In short, no climate road to serfdom.

Bad incentives have created a peculiar situation in which alleged classical liberals and conservatives push climate alarm and open-ended governmental energy activism. I have called out several of my former free-market colleagues in this regard, including Jerry Taylor (here and here vs. his previous view here); Josiah Neeley (here vs. his previous view here); and Jonathan Adler (here vs. his earlier view here).

In each case, these individuals published prior analysis that can easily neuter if not refute their present views.…

“Weitzman’s fat tail, with 10% chance of climate sensitivities out beyond 10C are circa 2007 (AR5); these extreme values have been pretty much debunked by the AR5 (not to mention Nic Lewis’ recent work…. Jerry Taylor’s argument for a carbon tax doesn’t really hold up.” (Judith Curry, below)

In her May 2015 piece, “What Would It Take to Convince You About Global Warming?,” Judith Curry tackles the “fat tails” argument for pricing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. She also considers Jerry Taylor’s argument for his conversion. (Taylor said: “… as each rebuttal was issued to Weitzman, they were just shredded. And then Litterman comes along and marries that analysis to the financial markets…. So my position fundamentally switched at that point.”))

Curry works from the IPCC consensus to question fat-tails as a basis for policy activism.…