Tyler Cowen on China and Transparency
This NY Times piece has some interesting ideas. Environmental scholars have wondered about the quality of the aggregate carbon dioxide statistics that China generates.
Credible Foreign Policy and Basic Game Theory: The Cases of Israel and Honduras
This NY Times editorial below surprises me. Could the Smart Obama Team really be this bad at basic game theory? I thought that during the Cold War that RAND was paid big bucks for teaching the government strategy lessons in dealing with the Soviet Union.
The U.S Carbon Legislation: "Demonstrate Resolve"
I agree with Nat Keohane's main claim here . I read this as a "Field of Dreams" domino effect. If we build it, they (i.e China, India) will follow. The specific details don't really matter. Leadership is leadership.
The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times Need to Study Algebra Again
I am happy to hear that China has pledged to reduce its carbon intensity by 40% by 2020 but does this guarantee a smaller global carbon footprint? Recall that carbon intensity = tons of CO2/GNP. China's economy has been growing by 8% per year.
We Are All Keynesians Now
Okay, I'll cry uncle. The Keynesian Multiplier of this government spending is very large. My Dynamic Stochastic GE Model concludes that for every $ that the Department of Energy gives to Los Angeles we generate $3112 of new output and intellectual capital.
Green Buildings Conference at UC Berkeley Next Week
Next week there will be a very interesting energy conference at UC Berkeley. I don't like to travel far from Los Angeles but this is worth the effort. These are very exciting days to study empirical energy questions here in California.
The Life and Death of Turkeys
Bloggers are supposed to provide useful links. Each Thanksgiving, I think about the life of the turkey. This website answered many of my questions about the typical turkey's Biography .
Green Harvard Battles Allston Rats
Apparently, it is not hard to get into Harvard. Ask these Rats. They clearly were
excited about the opportunity to be research subjects in the new Allston labs and came up from below ground to volunteer to be part of randomized trials.
UCLA Expertise on Climate Change
Here's a new criteria for ranking research universities; who on your faculty has thought about the broad issue of climate change? Permit UCLA to put its cards on the table.
Economics Humor
The Young Men (could any women be writing this stuff?) at www.econjobrumors.com are very funny. Dora and I greatly appreciate their cumulative wisdom.
The Environmental Consequences of Long Lived Durable Capital
The New York Times has a front page article today bemoaning that NYC has an old sewer system that overloads on rainy days.
New Research on the Role of "Good Schools" Causing a Reduction in the Propensity to Commit Crime
For academic economists, there are certain seasons. In early October, we wonder if we will win the Nobel Prize this year.
Academic Macro Economics Just Keeps Getting Trickier
In 1988, I thought that the Brock-Mirman one sector Growth Model was nasty stuff but now look at Exhibit A and Exhibit B. Progress not regress.
I will let you decide if this elegant model resembles the modern economy.
Leading Indicators of West LA's Economic Recovery
My neighbor , Candy Spelling, is showing confidence in local housing prices. As a patriotic American, she has not lowered the asking price of $150 million for this Little Holmby House:
I play golf on the golf course just out of sight on the south west part of the picture.
How Do You Grow Your Own Miniature David Brooks?
Parents understand backwards induction. We believe that if our child can attend an elite university that this will build his/her human capital, social networks and resume.
National Commitments to CO2 Targets: First Mover Advantage Due To Thermal Underwear
If you had to bet, will China or the USA move first and make a credible commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Are there any benefits to being the first mover? Today, the New York Times explains why South Korea has been willing to unilaterally show some leadership on carbon mitigation.
UCLA Pollution Research Bolsters the Case for Closing Santa Monica Airport
I know how to conduct a cost/benefit analysis. I gain nothing from the Santa Monica Airport and this UCLA research documents the ambient air pollution costs. I can personally vouch that this airport's planes are noisy.
Cash for Caulkers Redux and Anticipating Behavioral Responses to the Embedded Incentives
This blog post on incentives for improving home energy efficiency caught my eye.
"HOME STAR would reimburse homeowners for a range of residential energy upgrades including air sealing, insulation, new light bulbs and household appliances.
Some Thoughts on Cash for Caulkers
The New York Times is in deep thought about improving U.S buildings' energy efficiency. Here is Exhibit A and Here is exhibit B.
Productive Furlough Days
All around the country, other academics feel sorry for their UC peers as we gain some first hand experience with furloughs. Here are the details .
New Intellectual Property Created at UCLA
David Levine and his buddy Boldrin may have left UCLA a couple of years ago but I hope they are proud of its recent intellectual property .
The Consequences of Smoking Bans at Columbia University: Another Test of the Pollution Havens Hypothesis?
University Senate meetings are usually not that interesting unless the faculty is in the mood to yell at the President. But, here are some quotes from a Columbia meeting examining the issue of a smoking ban on the main campus.
Famous for Robbing the Famous: Rent Seeking in the Modern Los Angeles Economy
Are you a productive citizen? Are you adding more to our economy than this pretty gang ? The "Bling Ring" was smart enough to use the Internet to identify which celebrities live in which LA homes and then to use the Internet to know which celebrities would be out of town on which days.
Ambient Lead Pollution in China
The LA Times has a sad article today about industrial lead emissions in specific regions in China . The article says that this is direct evidence of the pollution haven hypothesis.
This Week's Lexington Column in The Economist
My mother has always liked Mike Cragg so she will be happy to see that Cragg and I are cited in this Lexington Column in The Economist . People have been interested in our work examining the political economy of Carbon voting such as the vote on the June 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act.
Can Economists Learn from Tao's Example? Will Academic Economics Become Open Source?
Terence Tao, a UCLA star math prof, is using his blog as an open source platform to allow countless math nerds to work together on the same paper at the same time.
Measuring the Output of Economists
All academic fields have an index numbers problem. To collapse a scholar's lifetime output into a single index of quality, we must agree on how to add up "apples" and "oranges".
The New York Post is a Leading Academic Source for Ideas and Quotes
As I try to finish the final draft of my new book, I found these letters, from angry New Yorkers who were frustrated by heavy rains knocking out the NYC subways in 2007, to be quite useful. The NY Post captures the voice of "real" New Yorkers.
My Father Wins a NYU Teaching Award
I haven't won any teaching awards and I don't expect to win any soon. I do know a guy who wins these things and he is proud of it and I'm proud of him. But, he could publish more!
Master Clinician: Martin L. Kahn, MD, the Joel E. and Joan L.
Evan Smith Reinvents Texas News Coverage
Evan Smith, an old friend from Hamilton '87, is featured in a photo in the NY Times Business page today . He looks tough in the picture. What has he done? Started a hedge fund? Gone to a tea party? No and No. He has created a new way to deliver the news separate from print sales and circulation.
Good Luck in the Big City
There are some selfless people in the Big City. Here is a very
nice story about good luck in a big city. A cynic would say that the cardiologist anticipated that she would get a nice write up in People Magazine but I don't believe this.
The "Treatment Effect" of Doctors
Are doctors good for you? When are they good for you? As they learn how to do their craft, could their treatment improve and become more cost-effective? Here is David Leonhardt's piece on health care and doctor's value added
For applied micro scholars, we can map this into the treatment effects lit
Ken Caldeira's Congressional Testimony on Geoengineering
Ken Caldeira's opening remarks from his 11/5/09 testimony are reported here. Below, I provide some quotes from his remarks but first allow me to editorialize.
Is Brooklyn a "Green City"? New Cement Production in Red Hook
Cement Factories are part of the "old economy".
The Good Life: A Harvard Case Study
Tournaments feature a skewed payoff distribution. Tiger Woods wins much more cash than the runner up. This creates strong incentives to devote effort. Academic Economics can be viewed as such a tournament.