Chinese Translation of my Green Cities book
I should send Ed Mills two copies of the 2008 Chinese Translation of my Green Cities book. Maybe he would like this one more than the original english version? I still like my book a lot. My co-author Siqi Zheng helped make this translation happen. I'm grateful to her for her help.
Big Questions in Environmental Economics
I have returned from 4 days and nights at the NBER Summer Institute. The highlights included Marty Weitzman's talk on "fat tails" at the Environmental Meetings and the dinner celebrating Marty Feldstein's major contributions as President of the NBER for the last 30 years. It does amaze me that Dr.
Ed Glaeser Likes 1/2 of Paul Ehrlich's New Book
It's Our Earth, Now What Do We Do With It?
By EDWARD GLAESER, Special to the Sun | July 18, 2008
http://www.nysun.com/arts/its-our-earth-now-what-do-we-do-with-it/82183/
Political movements are often built on literary foundations.
Air Conditioning and Global Tourism Increase the Demand for Southern Florida in the Summer
Seasonality is a boring word. Many environmentalists are now talking about it saying that in a world of high energy prices that trucking berries and other fruits from distant farmers to urban consumers will rise in price and that these urban consumers will respond by eating a more seasonal diet.
Academic Achievement
While I won't win a Clark Medal and the monthly IDEAS email tells me that I have barely cracked the top 5% of academic economists, I have now achieved something that I'm proud of.
Should Urban Farming be Scaled Up?
I've always wondered what the price of gasoline would have to be for Harvard to start drilling in Harvard Square. Now, I'm not a geologist and I don't play one on TV but there could be some oil deposits under that Burger joint.
Ed Glaeser is Pro-Houston
Housing will soon be a pinch more affordable around the country. For reasons perhaps related to humidity and housing supply regulation, Houston is an affordable city for the middle class seeking out the American Dream. In this editorial, Ed Glaeser contrasts New York City and Houston.
More Celebrities Spotted Close to UCLA and Over-Bidding for Art on Cruise Ships and
I was just walking my son to school within .25 miles of UCLA and a tall woman with a friendly dog walked past us. Upon second glance, I convinced myself that it was tennis great Venus Williams . She is taller than I am and appears to be in better shape.
UCLA vs. USC: The Verdict from Google Trends
UCLA is the blue line and USC is the red line. Google is ranking these two schools as roughly equal in terms of "buzz".
Corporate Environmentalism at UCLA
Exciting things are taking place at the UCLA Institute of the Environment. If the existence of a webpage is any sign, we now have an active New Research Center at UCLA focused on Corporate Environmentalism .
Gas Prices Around the World and Arbitrage
Buy gas in Saudi Arabia and sell in nearby Kenya and earn a marginal profit of $5.4 per gallon!
Green Harvard
Harvard's total energy bill is greater than $100 million per year. The university thinks it can do better.
Charlie Rangel and the Full Pay of Politicians
What are the full set of perks that big politicians get for being the boss? What would be the market price of these perks? Be honest, isn't this a small price to pay to get excellent people to work for our government? Would government attract a lower quality set of leaders if the Congress knew that
John Quigley Goes Green
I just learned that good research is taking place at UC Berkeley. Who would have guessed? What is my evidence? John Quigley has gone green.
News from New York City
When do policy makers listen to economists? Do we lead or lag policy? In the case of urban policy, the New York Times today has a nice piece on Congestion and Parking Price Differentials. My colleague Don Shoup should approve. During peak hours, parking prices will double.
Big New Homes in Queens, New York --- the Bukharians Celebrate the Good Life
Drive around West Los Angeles in Santa Monica, Westwood or Beverly Hills or Brentwood and you will see the contrast between the old housing stock and the new. Simple small 3 and 4 bedroom homes are next to new grand "McMansions".
A Sketch of the Costa/Kahn Research Agenda
This was just published in the NBER Reporter (http://www.nber.org/reporter/2008number2/costa.html). Before the Internet and the World Wide Web, these NBER Reporters were a pinch more exciting but I still think they convey valuable information.
Can My Princeton Press book be turned into a Best Selling T-Shirt?
Seth Ditchik of Princeton University Press has created a novel new product. He took my forthcoming social capital during the U.S Civil War book (joint with Dora L. Costa) 's text and fed it through http://wordle.net/. Here is the output based on the Word Count analysis of our Forthcoming Book .
Does Watermelon = Viagra? The Consumer Surplus from Mother Nature
In 1997, Constanza --- not the guy from Seinfeld, wrote the paper arguing that natural capital is worth trillions of dollars (see http://www.uvm.edu/giee/publications/Nature_Paper.pdf). Most neo-classical economists didn't fully believe his method for generating his big numbers.
Drill for Gas in Upstate New York? Energy Supplies, Inequality and Environmental Degradation --- Some Tradeoffs!
Upstate New York may have a fair bit of natural gas underground in the Marcellus Shale formation, which in New York runs from Lake Erie across to the Catskills.
Commuting Cost Arithmetic
If the price of gas remains at $5 a gallon or higher, will people move back to Center Cities? Many bloggers seem to be assuming that people work in the Center City and live in the suburbs . This is a 1950s view of suburbia. Ed Glaeser and I have written about this point extensively.
AB32 and Outsourcing Economic Analysis
AB32 commits California to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. This is ambitious but will compliance be costly for the state? "Rather than assessing the costs that will be borne by industry, Mary D.
