Environmental and Urban Economics

This is my second trip to Singapore and I've been here for a week.  Each day it is over 90 degrees and quite humid.  Has violence and low productivity broken out?  Fascinating Berkeley research suggests that it should  but Singapore is peaceful and quite rich.  How has this nation achieved this?  The answer is urbanization.   As I argued in my Climatopolis book, city growth will protect us from climate change allowing us to continue to thrive in our hotter future.  Permit me to offer some lessons from Singapore.    

1.  I am the only person walking around the streets during the day time.  All sane people take buses everywhere and minimize their time outside in the strong sun.

2. Buildings are naturally ventilated with shade and wind blows leading to cool outdoor spots.

3.

Read this reasonable piece about FEMA and natural disasters but ponder a simple question;  why do areas affected by natural disasters receive any transfers at all from other regions?  National defense is a public good but how is natural disaster insurance a public good?  You can convince me that the state that is impacted can provide disaster relief to the affected community but why are federal funds used for this cause?  When I buy dinner, I use my own funds to pay for the dinner.

Tom Smith has published an excellent OP-ED in the LA Times about his research project on preserving natural capital in Cameroon during a time when China is sharply increasing its investments in "extractive resource technologies".    I am working with him on this project and this stuff fascinates me.

I had a great time on Sentosa Island in Singapore last night.   When the sun sets and the heat fades, the people of Singapore head on out to have fun.  They have figured out how to adapt to their climate conditions. At NUS, most people use air conditioned buses to travel around the campus.  I'm not that wise. I walked several miles yesterday carrying a heavy computer in the 100 degree heat.  Sure, I got hot but you drink a Diet Coke and you cool down.

To celebrate my first day as a Visiting Professor at NUS, I'm giving away my new environmental and urban economics book away for free.  This offer is only good for August 26th 2013.

Watch this video to hear me discuss what is unique about my new book.

Many educated women choose not to "Lean In" and instead engage in some home production with their delightful kids.  Do the kids benefit from this extra investment?  Or, are these moms just engaging in another form of consumption?  A recent paper using data from Denmark concludes that working women should feel no guilt about getting out of the house.

How will Texas adapt to drought conditions?  Will suburban homes continue to have lush green lawns?  As I argued in Climatopolis, if water authorities raise the price of water to signal scarcity then suburban households would have an incentive to demand innovative solutions and some entrepreneur would supply them.   Whether the "solution" is to plant AstroTurf or zoysia grass does not concern me and I'm not qualified to guess what new approach will be the winner.

I have just spent two days visiting Stanford University.  If you ever have the opportunity to be an undergraduate, graduate student, full time faculty, visiting faculty or cook at Stanford, accept that offer!  You won't regret it.

To celebrate my first day Visiting NUS next week,  I will be giving away free copies of my Fundamentals book on Monday 8/26/13.   The new version now includes a good example of a regression discontinuity design (for testing for whether California's energy efficiency laws have caused the Rosenfeld Curve) and many other ideas that closely link micro environmental economics to basic econometrics.

For folks looking to stream some deep thoughts about the future of California, you can click here.