The Future of Research Economics
Tyler Cowen notes some relevant trends here . I talk to people and they say that applied micro has suffered over the last 15 years as top Americans have gone to Wall Street rather than the professor route. When I was a graduate student 20 years ago, my entering class was 50% American.
What are Economists Good For?
Well, we know we can't screw in a lightbulb but that can be outsourced. Auction theorists know that they have made a difference in the real world. Want proof? Click here . Preston McAfee serves up a very interesting recent intellectual history.
My First History Publication
Here is proof that I can publish in a history journal. The Costa/Kahn book was reviewed in a history journal and we were invited to reply. I wish that the Journal of Economic Literature would allow me to respond to Ed Mills' review of my Green Cities book.
New York State Confronts The Energy Suppy/Natural Capital Protection Tradeoff
People in New York City want clean water to drink and access to cheap natural gas. This article highlights the tradeoff. To protect the water supply from pollution at the drill site, the energy company has been pushed not to drill in upper New York State.
Ed Glaeser's Tribute to John Meyer
In this Economix Piece , Ed remembers a great economist. It is striking that a great man's life can be boiled down to roughly 2000 words. You live for 25,000 days (if you are lucky). At 10 days a word, this piece is a powerful reminder of John Meyer's key contributions to economics.
A "Natural Experiment" on Local Human Capital Spillovers at Columbia University?
According to this article , Columbia University plans to move some Nobel Laureate faculty from their current Medical School location to a new location.
What Do Other Academics Do All Day?
We roughly know what economists do all day (teach?, blog?) but what about everybody else? In this interview, UCLA's Richard Ambrose sketches his background and explains why he studies water systems.
The Future of Macro?
James Hamilton has written a great pithy piece on the possible causes of the recent deep recession. As a retired macroeconomist (I dropped out in 1988), I wonder how modern macro guys will figure out how to disentangle the possible explanations that he poses.
My Carbon Debate on Japanese National NHK TV
I woke up at 430am this morning to participate in this debate on Japan's efforts to reduce its CO2 emissions. I'm glad I did it. The other NHK panelists were smart.
Job Opening at UCLA's Institute of the Environment: Asst. Prof Focused on "Energy and the Environment"
Who said that California no longer creates jobs? Here is a new "green job". Your office will be pretty close to mine and you may actually see me once in a while. In sunny Los Angeles, I mainly work outside but I certainly do appear at the UCLA Institute of the Environment.
My Debut in a Chinese Newspaper
If you can read Chinese, my recent interview with China's Energy News may entertain you. If you can't read Chinese, you have to admit that it is still funny. On sunday, I will appear on Japanese television.
Trust and Kidney Exchange at UCLA
This would be a difficult field experiment to get IRB approval for! It looks like higher stakes stuff relative to dropping envelopes with cash in the middle of the University quad and asking people to transfer some fraction of this cash to another student who may promise to give a multiple of the or
Is Public Support for Tackling Global Warming Cooling?
What causal factors move public opinion? Are you a fundamentals guy or do you believe in path dependence models so that small shocks set off a contagion/multiplier effect as everybody is talking about the "Octomom" or the "balloon boy".
Could Public Transit Soon Become Even Slower Relative to Car Trips?
The full time cost of commuting by any transit mode (car, walk, bus, subway) has a fixed time cost and marginal time cost per mile. For some facts about these differentials by mode circa 2001 See Table 3 of this paper .
John Meyer
Harvard's John Meyer died yesterday. He was a great urban economist. His combined contributions to urban economics, transport economics and economic history merited a share of a nobel prize. He also served for a decade as the President of NBER (before it moved to Cambridge).
Should the National Science Foundation Fund Social Science Research?
Of course, but what % should go to economics or political science or sociology?
The New York Times Arts Section tackles a piece of this issue today. It focuses on political science. Has this field lost its bearings by imitating economics? I don't believe this.
The Fiscal Impact of California's AB 32
The Sacramento Bee is full of useful stuff. When they aren't publishing my salary, they are highlighting important policy debates taking place in California's Capital (Sacramento). This article on AB32 is a case in point.
Geoengineering and the Economics of Climate Change
Do we address threats ex-ante or ex-post? The anticipated access to ex-post remedies creates a moral hazard effect through lulling.
Beijing Air Pollution Dynamics and the Environmental Kuznets Curve
Beijing's ambient pollution level depends on the scale of nearby economic activity (i.e cars, people, power plants, factories) and their respective emissions factors (pollution per unit of activity such as emissions per mile).
Santa Monica Embraces Smart Public Policy!
Santa Monica drivers will soon be paying much more for scarce parking spots .
$ 10,000 Per Square Foot in a Nice Tower in Hong Kong
So, you can buy a Detroit home or 1.3 square feet in this expensive Hong Kong tower. Tough choice!
It is raining in Los Angeles. Who knew that this could happen? We have built up a wall of bricks at the base of our backyard hill to stop the mudslides.
The Traffic Congestion/Air Pollution Nexus: Reduce Infant Mortality By Introducing the EZ Pass
You don't want to live near a highway toll plaza, especially if cars get stuck there waiting to pay the toll. This paper presents a "natural experiment" under which EZ-Pass is introduced and a before/after comparison of infant mortality rates in neighborhoods nearby is calculated.
Do You Want to Buy Nicholas Cage's Home?
Here are the details on this movie star's home. $17 million is a pretty serious price. I was not aware that he lives .9 miles away. I will look for him at the local Starbucks.
Smarter Cities: New Datasets Generated by City Governments and the Nerds Who Love Them
In case I win the Nobel Prize tomorrow, I wanted to make a couple of points because I could be real busy the next couple of weeks. In today's NY Times, Steve Lohr has a nice piece that will excite Supercrunchers. Cities are sitting on data goldmines.
Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys Doesn't Recognize Me at Little Holmby Park
Today at the Little Holmby Park, I spotted a guy who I am sure is Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. I was throwing a nerf football with my son and numerous "Star Tour" buses were coming by to gawk at Aaron Spelling's nearby mansion.
The Year 2036 Offers a Test of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis
Richard Posner has taught me to worry about big asteroids hitting our planet. I was focused on other concerns (like journal revise and resubmits) until I read his book.
The Carbon Footprint of Pets
Below, I provide you with a photo of a 7 foot dog. He will play for the LA Clippers this year. This picture got me thinking. I live in Westwood, Los Angeles. Here we have a suburban housing stock but most of the homes have no children living there.
UCI/UCLA/USC First Real Estate Research Day
All economists know that there are too many conferences. Can't we shrink our carbon footprint and cancel 95% of them? That said, tomorrow there will be an real estate/urban economics conference at UCLA. Here are some details.
Smart Buildings will Shrink Our Carbon Footprint
Do you need some good news in your life? Try this . In New York City, Vornado Reality Trust (a major commercial property landlord) is installing small electricity meters into its tenants offices. These sensors will provide data on energy use by 15 minute intervals to some big data base.
Do Charter Cities Cause Increased Investment in Skill Formation?
Paul Romer is investigating how the introduction of Charter Cities could improve the economic performance of LDCs. My UCLA colleagues know that I keep talking about Paul's ideas at lunch. On his new blog, he is actively seeking to promote a debate about his ideas. Here is my first post .
The "Green" Consequences of Introducing the Plug-In Prius by 2012
This article says that Toyota will soon introduce plug-in hybrids. It claims that these vehicles will be able to travel up to 10 miles on just their electric battery and then each night they would be recharged.
In the Near Future There Will Be Lots of 100 Year Old People
Social Security may have an even bigger problem in the year 2109 or so says this news item: Born in 2009 and Living to the year 2109 .
The Blame Game: Has California's Green Push Caused A Deeper Recession Here?
In the 1970s, macro productivity indicators were declining at the same time that EPA regulation was increasing. Some claimed that there was a causal link between these facts.
Technology Forcing and Energy Sucking Flat Screen Televisions
We know that technological change is the key for us achieving the "win-win" of continued economic growth and a clean, climate change free future.
A 36 Hour Trip to Lexington, Kentucky
I am back in LA after 4 flights in 36 hours. I'm glad I went because I had the chance to see my old friends at the University of Kentucky. UK has built up quite a crew of applied micro researchers and there was a lot to talk about.