Indeed. Corporate taxation makes for good applause lines, but at least in our particular system it's basically a giant target for "lobby for special tax breaks, but only if you're rich enough to hire a staff of lobbyists."
My favored solution is having two taxes: a heavily progressive consumption tax, and a flat capital gains/etc. tax. Because what people usually are bothered by are the Paris Hiltons of the world, not the humble billionaire featured in the article.
Taxing externalities is, of course, a good idea, and key to any functioning system of property rights.
I don't believe they should be used for revenues, because once you do that, it misplaces the incentive: now the government makes more revenue per unit externality. So I favor a flat rebate for all externality taxes.
My favored solution is having two taxes: a heavily progressive consumption tax, and a flat capital gains/etc. tax. Because what people usually are bothered by are the Paris Hiltons of the world, not the humble billionaire featured in the article.