Environmental and Urban Economics

I don't own a TV so when I stay in a hotel I try to watch it. This morning I was watching the 12/17 confirmation hearings of the California PUC's Michael Peevey . He is a very important guy on all energy issues for the state.

During the hearings, a Democrat pushed him that the Public Utility Commission (PUC) should be using its budget to encourage the development of new green human capital at high schools. Similar to Bill Clinton's 1992 love for the European vocational skills education, this vision would have California high schools train students (in shop class?) with practical skills for the new green economy.

In his last NY Times column of each calendar year, William Safire always made gutsy predictions for the new year. Now that he has passed away, somebody needs to take his place. Below, I will fail at this but I hope that my failure raises your hopes that you can do better.

I am sitting in a hotel in downtown Sacramento. I have lived in many places and traveled widely and I must report that downtown Sacramento is not the place to be.

This breaks my Chicago heart but take a look at this unclaimed checks website at Sacramento's SMUD. Now some of you smart economists will say that this must be low stakes stuff. You like data my fellow "Super Crunchers"? Here are the micro data. Go write a JPE paper with it. I see one person who has not claimed a $1200 check. What does this prove? Sharp diminishing marginal utility of income?

I should add that this will be my last blog post for 2 weeks.

In October 2009, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Francisca Richter. The interview is presented below. Doug Campbell was kind enough to arrange this. I had a great time and I hope this new magazine is as well read as the Federal Reserve of Minneapolis' publication.

Here is the first issue in pdf format.

Here is another link

Here is the video . I apologize for my odd look

and here is the web link.

Are you an economist who has been thinking about climate change research topics? Are you eager to raise some research funds? Well, then please take a look at this . Prof. Charlie Kolstad and I have worked to encourage the California Air Resources Board to devote some of its research money to encouraging new work on the broad topic of the "Economics of Climate change".

Never forget backwards induction. Whether you are playing chess or arguing with somebody, don't forget about the sub-game you are trying to get to. In the case of carbon mitigation, we are trying to initialize a domino effect. Rather than the rise of communism through some continent, we are trying to cause the decline of carbon. But, Jeff Frankel's blog post depressed me.

Economists and engineers have celebrated the coming installation of $200 real time electricity meters in our homes. This real time inflow of information will allow households to be sophisticated consumers of electricity. When electricity prices are high (like at peak times) we will use less and substitute off-peak.

Has your child ever lectured you on the importance of recycling? This LA Times article highlights a new set of children's books with a green edge to them. Perhaps the Cato Institute should commission a sociologist to study whether the modern elementary school curriculum is ramping up the next generation to become Al Gore to the third power.

Maybe I need to start "tweeting"? Most economists neither have anything to say in real time nor discrete time! But, hear me out. The movie star Vin Diesel just jogged past my Little Holmby house. I was walking out to pick up the newspaper and he was moving fast enough that I didn't have time to say; "Yo Vin". So, in the last few weeks my street has been visited by Warren Christopher and Vin Diesel. And, this is just the tip of the iceberg.