Tax foreigners living in foreign countries

Monty Python once - humourosly, you understand - suggested taxing foreigners living in foreign countries. Gordon Brown seems to have taken the show seriously:

A $25bn global windfall levy on oil and gas profits, paid by the richest petrostates, would amount to less than 1% of global oil and gas revenues and only 3% of the export earnings of these major producers. Each of the richest petrostates can easily afford to pay. The UAE has seen its export earnings rise from $76bn to $119bn; it can afford to contribute $3bn without any impact on the energy prices paid by its domestic consumers. And it is not alone: with Qatar’s export earnings, mainly from gas, rising from $53bn to $86bn it too could easily afford $3bn, as could Kuwait with its export earnings increasing from $63bn to $98bn.

Of course all those foreigners would just live to hand over the cash for Gordon to spend. Just love to.

One thing does occur to us, where is the contribution from Venezuela? Russia? You only have to give the money away if you’re a relatively free and efficient producer? Socialist and authoritarian hellholes are let off the fine? Does wonders for incentives, that does.

Rather more importantly, the people responsible for climate change are those who use fossil fuels, not those who produce them. It should be those who use fossil fuels coughing up therefore.

But, you know, we still think it an idea worth laughing about. Yes, let’s try to tax foreigners living in foreign to fund our spending. Why not? Farce becoming history, didn’t someone say something about that?

Could we suggest a negotiating line? Yes, yes, of course we’ll respect you in the morning, after you’ve handed over the cash.