Smith Business Close-Up:
Gas Prices – Is a Proposed Gas Tax Hike the Answer?

Thursday, April 12, 2012, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, April 15, 2012, 7:30 a.m.

Gas prices are rising with no end in sight, which would seem to indicate bad timing for a proposed gas tax hike in Maryland. Even with more pain at the pump, a tax increase could be the needed catalyst for Americans to shift to alternative energy sources.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Charles Olson talks about how a gas tax increase in Maryland could help encourage the use of natural gas as an alternative fuel.

Olson is Professor of the Practice and an expert in public utility economics and strategy. He is a nationally recognized expert on all aspects of utility regulation and energy economy. He has testified in several hundred utility cases in 50 jurisdictions and consulted for more than 100 utilities, industrial companies, state agencies, trade associations and environmental groups. He teaches managerial and macroeconomics to MBA students and directs the undergraduate business honors program at the Smith School.