Baby Boomer Environmentalism: Birth Cohort versus Age versus Calendar Year Effects
Most economists have fond memories of applied labor classes where the professor would teach the following detective puzzle.
Rust Belt Cities as Consumer Cities: Does Providence Rhode Island = Paris?
Urban Economists continue to debate the future of the Rust Belt. Ed Glaeser has earned much praise from upstate New Yorkers for his "kind words" about Buffalo's fate. See http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_4_buffalo_ny.html.
A Columbia University Undergraduate's Views on Sustainability
Can the old learn from the young? As a younger man, I worked at Columbia University and had the opportunity to teach some very gifted students. This one student makes some good points.
Ranking Universities on a New Criteria: The Carbon Footprint
We know that Harvard has the largest endowment in the U.S and that Princeton has the largest endowment per student and we know that UCLA has the most charming Professors, but which university has the smallest carbon per-capita footprint of all? Which school is being the best "global citizen"? With e
Boston's Big Dig: 15 Billion Dollars Worth of Pleasure?
Urban green space is a scarce commodity. At some expense, Boston has increased its supply. Was this money well spent? Who are the real winners from this public investment? The city is "greener" and a little less congested because of it.
A Return to Macro-Economics
I entered the University of Chicago in 1988 intending to become a macroeconomist. I quickly transitioned to another field of study called applied micro. But, I always respected the Chicago Macro Stars. Starting today, I have a new favorite macro-economist.
Are Economists Too Optimistic About the Future?
Will your grandchildren have a higher quality of life than we do? Most economists would say yes to this.
Encouraging Costly Participation in International Environmental Agreements
In a global deal on limiting greenhouse gases, we need all the major nations (including China, India and the U.S) to participate.
"Green" Products in the News
It appears that the media is devoting more and more attention to environmental issues.
Rated PG-13 in Westwood, Los Angeles
UCLA's Westwood is usually a pretty intellectual place. But as I walked back to my house close to Westwood Village, I walked past a bar sign claiming that Playboy Playmates were there celebrating the NBA All-Star Game.
A Blogger Trying To Provide Public Goods
Some bloggers have suggested that one beneficial role that bloggers offer is helping readers to economize on search costs. We (the bloggers) have an edge at finding interesting nuggets that appear on random places on the Internet. We then point you to such good stuff.
New UCLA Research Finds that "love puts blinders on people"
Economists can certainly learn from other branches of social science. The eHarmony dating service has not offered me the opportunity to run a field experiment.
No Dudes on the Bus in Mexico City: A Case of "Positive Discrimination"?
There are single sex colleges and bathrooms so I guess it makes sense to have single sex buses. This New York Times article focuses on a cost of urban density. In a city filled with anomie, there are potential gropers lurking and they know that they are unlikely to be caught in the act by any cop.
Research Ideas from the New York Times Style Section?
Most self respecting economists might admit that their thoughts were influenced by what they read in the New York Times' News or business sections.
Consumer Heterogeneity and Consistent Market Choices
Western Europe is creating some pretty wild data sets that UCLA economists have used for some creative "freaky" research. For an example from Norway take a look at this: http://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp926.html and now we have some funky work based on data from Finland.
Las Vegas Solves The "Tragedy of the Commons"
Environmental economists have always voiced concerns about the "Tragedy of the Commons" problem. It is well recognized that in a "use it or lose it" setting, fishermen, tree cutters and other natural resource extractors have little incentive to conserve natural capital.
More Celebrity Spotting In West Los Angeles
I spotted Christian Slater at my son's school yesterday. In case you need a quick refresher course on your movie trivia look here ---
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Slater. He gave me a look that seemed to say "leave me alone nerd". So, I left him alone.
What Will Economists Say to Get Quoted in the New York Times?
While I haven't done a formal analysis, I've always thought that the New York Times likes to quote Harvard professors. I know that they are an excellent set of scholars but holding "quality" constant, Harvard is an outlier.
