Winner Takes All in the Race to Document Cross-City Differences in Per-Capita Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Academics write at a leisurely pace. Perhaps an upcoming NBER Summer Institute deadline or a January AEA Session date makes you pick up the pace to actually meet a deadline.
Will this Blog Become a Civil War Blog?
I don't believe in "lock in" effects. Looking back to August 2005 when this fascinating blog started, I chose the bland titled of "environmental and urban economics" because that was an accurate description of what I was working on.
My 10th Wedding Anniversary is Tomorrow
Academic economists often marry academic economists. Why? Well, I can't answer that but permit me to offer one salient data point. A 1998 Event that you weren't invited to .
As I think back over the 10 years that have flown by, I wondered whether it is rare for a couple to reach this milestone.
Ecological Economist Leads a Shareholder Rebellion at Exxon-Mobil
Most shareholders purchase a company's stock in order to raise their rate of return (adjusted for risk). The Rockefeller shareholders may have a more complex objective function.
Do "Kyoto Style" Environmental Treaties Promote Economic Integration?
Chicken and Egg issues are at the heart of what economists are supposed to be doing.
Curbing Carbon from Cars
I thank Jan Mazurek for sending me this "heads up" on new proposed Senate legislation.
San Francisco's New 4 Cents a Ton Carbon Dioxide Tax: Could Behavioral Responses Be Enormous?
Ed Glaeser and I have a new paper where we assume that the social marginal cost of an extra ton of carbon dioxide emissions equals $43. With this number in mind, it is funny that the progressive green city of San Francisco is applauding itself for implementing a $.04 tax per ton of carbon dioxide.
Some Accurate Reporting about UCLA's Economics Department
Economists like gossip. I don't know why. Don't we have better things to do? Aren't the stakes pretty low? We all have good jobs. We all are well fed. Stop complaining and get back to work. But, before you do so think of the rising UCLA's Economics Department.
Collapse: Will We Run Out of Food?
Forget Peak Oil, this book review below argues that we are on the verge of Peak Chicken, Peak Tuna and Peak Prunes.
What Should Established Economists Do All Day Long?
I have taken a week off from blogging as I traveled to the World Bank, the National Science Foundation and Moshe Buchinsky's great summer home near Big Bear Lake 100 miles East of LA. Now, I'm back and I have things to say.
How Should UCLA Market Itself?
I opened the New York Times this morning and on the backpage of the News Section was a picture of Richard Ziman. Mr. Ziman's investments have greatly improved my intellectual quality of life (see www.zimancenter.com). He has been a great friend of UCLA.
Anonymity and Wikipedia: Did My Mother Write An Entry about Me?
I must admit that I've always been impressed by seeing my friends written up in Wikipedia. Its not quite People Magazine but its close enough.
Old Mama's Boys or Mama's Old Boys: Evidence from Italy
If you are age 60 and your income goes up (bingo winnings?), does this increase or decrease the probability that your adult children live with you? In U.S history, Dora Costa documented that U.S Civil War Veterans who received generous war pensions were less likely to live with their children.
California Small City Budgeting and the Economics of Local Bankruptcy
Suppose you are the budget planner ( a part time job?) for some small California town.
Weak Institutions Cause Natural Resource Dependence: The Curse of Natural Resources Revisited
Science 2 May 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5876, pp. 616 - 617
DOI: 10.1126/science.1154539
Policy Forum
ECONOMICS:
Linking Natural Resources to Slow Growth and More Conflict
C. N. Brunnschweiler1* and E. H.
Pagan Harvard?
Will Harvard's Economics students try to compete with these anthro majors? Will a sacrifice of Greg M's texts placate the gods?
News
Eliot Awakens To Dead Animal
Residents find goat carcass left in front of Eliot House on Saturday morning
Published On 5/6/2008 1:43:02 AM
By CHARLES J.
Los Angeles Weather
Each morning I study the New York Times weather map to see what is the weather in all of the cities where my family lives and in cities that I used to work in and cities where I almost joined their University's faculty.
Things change.
Will UCLA Students Vote in Favor of Higher Taxes Earmarked to Green the Campus?
I wish I could collect student level data on how UCLA students vote on this "green tax" proposal. $4 = one trip to Starbucks. Who is willing to vote this in return for a rather vague environmental payoff? Ideally, I could collect data on who votes yes and no and their attributes.
The Political Economy of Changing Urban Zoning Laws: Evidence from NYC
How much of suburban growth is due to developers seeking the path of least resistance? Center cities are densely populated and thus there are many potential protectors of the status quo.
