Environmental and Urban Economics

How will California meet the ambitious goals defined by AB32? Here is a long answer; California's ARB's Scoping Plan for Climate Change Mitigation . Will implementing this plan increase the state's economic growth?

Want to see capitalism in action? Metal Recycling becomes Profitable

Localized "Consumer City" and the New York South Street Seaport .

Starting with this important paper http://www.nber.org/papers/w7682, economists have been fascinated by whether the "default option" plays a key role in consumer choice. Do even the smallest transaction costs affect important choices such as retirement planning? Does inertia keep you from making choices that would improve your overall well being?

I've run into this issue on a very mundane issue. Prof. Costa and I will soon publish our new book. We want all NBER economists to read our book.

Tomorrow, I'll have a quote in a New York Times Article from June 25th 2008 . The article is about the impact of high gas prices on housing in the distant suburbs of major cities such as Denver. Ed Glaeser and I will release our paper that ranks metropolitan areas with respect to their household carbon dioxide emissions as a NBER Working Paper pretty soon. Los Angeles looks pretty green based on our ranking.

Substitution Effects and Homelessness

In other news, some Duke Univ. Researchers have decided to teach us about hyperbolas.

Apparently, Gallons of gas consumed = miles*(gallons per mile)

June 24, 2008

Observatory

M.P.G. Can Mislead When Searching for Fuel Efficiency

By HENRY FOUNTAIN

In an era of climate change and expensive gasoline, a vehicle’s fuel efficiency, measured in miles per gallon, is an increasingly important factor to consider when shopping for a car.

This is funny. We detectives are always looking for clues. Sewage may smell but it offers important evidence for what its producers have been up to. In a city of 8 million people, one is likely to find traces of everything in the waste.

One big drug test for L.A.: sewage analysis

Experts are examining the outflow in several U.S. and European cities, and the data can be revealing.

Everybody knows that our nation's Capitol is a delightful place to be during the summer time. My wife loves humidity so I hope you attend her talk about our new Princeton Press book. As a bonus, you'll also hear from Robert Fogel.

Press Release

June 4, 2008

National Archives Holds Program on Military Records June 24

Heroes and Cowards: The Social Face of War

Washington, DC…On Tuesday, June 24 at 11:30 AM, the National Archives will host Heroes and Cowards: The Social Face of the War.

Prof. Magali Delmas and I are getting ready to launch a new center at UCLA's Institute of the Environment. Pretty soon when you go to www.ioe.ucla.edu, you'll be able to read about what our new Center for Corporate Environmental Performance is up to. We are currently seeking out firms who are interested in partnering with us. We believe that we have some interesting things to tell you.

The neuroscientists get to have a lot of fun with fMRI machines. This article below based on UCLA research sketches a simple experimental design for figuring out what parts of a person's brain "light up" when exposed to different grief stimuli. Due to cost, the sample size in these experiments are really small. Does this raise issues concerning how one formally tests hypotheses?

I have some notes on how to use fMRI technology for studying preference issues in environmental economics.