As discussed below, 9 northeastern states are getting ready to sign a pact to cap and trade electric utility greenhouse gas emissions.
Perhaps Paul Krugman's popular writings have had a strong treatment effect causing Republican economists to hide or change stripes. Perhaps economists are jockeying to join President Clinton's "Economic Dream Team" in early 2009. Today the New York Times points out an interesting fact.
Urban population density offers some advantages and some disadvantages. The usual laundry list of disadvantages includes congestion and pollution. When people think of pollution, they immediately think of air and water pollution.
Two leading environmental economists have conducted a thorough study of the costly Superfund program. They conclude that the $30 billion dollars spent on hazardous waste site cleanups does not pass a cost/benefit test.
Recently there has been extensive media coverage of this benzene spill near China's Harbin City. Part of the costs of this disaster will be borne in nearby Russia.
Dora Costa and I are starting to write a book on social capital during war time. Our setting is the U.S Civil War. In particular, we have unique soldier level data for over 36,000 Union Army Soldiers (30,000 whites and 6,000 blacks).
Can there be a large "silver lining" from environmental disasters? A Chinese city called Harbin offers another natural experiment today for thesting this hypothesis. A chemical plant exploded in Harbin and this has increased the local river's toxic benzene content.
Is Montana coal our nation's solution to achieving energy independence? The New York Times today sounds convinced. This article is quite interesting but I think it is a good example of why journalists needs to specialize and know the technical details of the subject they are studying.
Ther Mercer Rankings for the year 2005 rank San Francisco as the 25th best city in the world and New York City is ranked as #39.
Suppose there is sharp learning by doing in the renewable energy industry. As this article below discusses, China is getting ready to make a major investment in wind turbines.
Permit me to quote a 9/15/2005 Financial Times piece by Jeff Sachs: “The US has steadfastly resisted any new commitments on climate change, yet it won't feel quite the same way soon when Americans begin to understand that climate change is expected to lead to more Katrinas, and when they simultaneou
I read an interesting press release concerning who bears the brunt of climate change impacts see http://www.news.wisc.edu/11878.html. These researchers have the guts to forecast far into the future concerning likely impacts.
Do we have limited attention spans? In the aftermath of a shock such as the Tsunami or Katrina, people feel generous and give.
I often go to www.theoildrum.com to try to understand how smart non-economists think about resource depletion in a growing economy. There I see a fair bit of venting about economists and our "naive optimism".
The core Oildrum argument goes as follows: we have "locked in" to gasoline.
The core Oildrum argument goes as follows: we have "locked in" to gasoline.
When energy prices rise, how do energy consumers respond? The New York Times today summarized some new empirical work that has the optimistic punchline that people do respond to price and social incentives to conserve.
Does home ownership have a causal effect on making me a better citizen? As a stake holder, I do have the right incentives to take actions that raise the value of my home. The article below highlights that our evidence on the social effects of home ownership is pretty flimsy.
While we love free stuff, cheap is expensive. Maybe New York City will learn from London's recent experience with road pricing. The boosters are arguing that London's urban ills have been mitigated by road pricing. In particular, urban air pollution and greenhouse gas production are down there.
Battling Climate Change is a global public good. If you reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by a ton, then I (and everyone else on earth) benefit from your action. You might think that a free rider problem would arise as everyone waits for everyone else to abate.
Now that Michael Bloomberg has been re-elected mayor by a wide margin he can take some politically risky moves with out fear of "retribution".
This blog entry focuses on the social dynamics when young kids get rowdy at a restaurant and how this disturbs other people who are eating at this restaurant. The article hints that there is a "cultural divide" between people who do and do not have young children.
What is the marginal cost of reducing electric utilities' carbon dioxide emissions? In the second paragraph of the editorial presented below, the New York Times claims that this cost could be as low as $1 per ton. I would like to know more about this claim.
China is urbanizing and this has increased the population density and economic activity at the suburban fringe. Economic theory says that finite land should be allocated to its highest value use.
Reverse commuting means that you live in the center city and work in the suburbs.
For people who value cultural amenities and desire little private space, this may make sense. Now that urban crime levels and pollution levels have fallen, urban living has become even more attractive.
For people who value cultural amenities and desire little private space, this may make sense. Now that urban crime levels and pollution levels have fallen, urban living has become even more attractive.
Have you ever wondered how many sex offenders live in your zipcode? Have you ever wanted to know what is the total complaint count concerning rodents near your New York City Apartment? Today the New York Times provides all sorts of "Freakonomic" websites for spicing up urban economics research relat
Newman from Seinfeld epitomized the low productivity public employee. Would he have worked harder if he faced piece rate compensation? Would there have been any unintended consequences from switching to higher powered incentives? One interesting new study says yes.
