Pollution Taxes Talent

Air pollution reduces economic growth not only by killing people but by shrinking human capital: worse childhood cognition, more illness, shorter working lives and lower attractiveness to skilled migrants and firms. Many large pollution sources (stubble burning, garbage burning, household biomass use, aging plants without scrubbers) are low‑cost to fix and are not inevitable by‑products of GDP growth. — Reframing pollution as a growth tax reframes climate/environment debates into urgent development and labor‑market policy choices and prioritizes low‑cost abatement as pro‑growth investments.