2C or not 2C? Bill Nordhaus' Talk at the University of Chicago
At the 21 minute mark of this video of his Becker-Friedman Institute talk, Bill Nordhaus begins to discuss the impacts of climate change. He stresses three impacts while emphasizing how difficult it is to predict future adaptation.
Alan Dershowitz Ponders His Harvard Legacy
Alan Dershowitz has retired after serving for 50 years as a faculty member at Harvard Law School. He talks about his legacy in this piece. He is quite proud of his teaching accomplishments and his legacy for Jewish students at Harvard.
Human Capital Formation and Capital Constraints is the Weak Link in Piketty's Inexorable Logic
Human capital is a funky capital stock. In our diverse world, kids have a vector of cognitive and non-cognitive endowments. As time passes, investments in own time, parental time and market inputs are made to increment the elements of these vectors.
Incentives for China's Mayors to Pursue Blue Skies
Siqi Zheng and I are finishing a book on pollution progress in urban China. Capitalism and Society just published a short paper of mine on this subject.
The Chronicle of Higher Education's Piece on Piketty and Modern Economics
The Chronicle has a lot to say about Thomas Piketty and modern economics. Piketty has done a great job assembling new data sources to document long run trends in inequality. As I understand it, his explanation hinges on how the returns to capital and the rate of economic growth evolve over time.
Adaptation Entrepreneurship and Harvard Business School
"Years of Living Dangerously" was aired at Harvard Business School recently. Of course, the creators of this Showtime Show hope to motivate voters to support a carbon tax. I wish that they succeed. But the HBS students offer a different pathway for coping with climate change.
The Urban Economics of Climate Change Adaptation
I'm on a bus heading to Cornell University. Tomorrow, I will give a talk titled; "Adapting to Climate Change: An Urban Economist's Perspective". Click on the link to see my slides. My optimistic talk poses some questions for macro modelers such Prof. Nordhaus and Prof. Weitzman.
The Silver Lining of Beijing Smog?
The China Daily reports that foreign firms in China are seeking out 2nd and 3rd tier Chinese cities that feature blue skies because Beijing is just too polluted. The introduction of a competitive system of cities would make urban China an even stronger nation.
Liberal Cities and the High (Median Rent/Median Household Income) Ratio
The NY Times reports that there are many liberal cities where the median rent divided by the median household income is greater than 30%. The Times interprets this fact that the middle class can't afford to live in a series of cities ranging from Los Angeles, to Miami to San Francisco to NYC.
An Explanation for Why the IPCC's Reports are Increasingly Ignored
An old literature in economics states that only "new news" moves markets. Do the recent IPCC reports say anything new? Those who know that climate change is a major challenge "learn" that they were right.
Why are the IPCC's Reports Increasingly Ignored?
While the NY Times covers new IPCC reports with front page stories, Google Trends reveals that the rest of the world isn't listening. Look at this graph below.
Why Does UCLA Now Have Two Institutes of the Environment?
My tenure at UCLA is at the Institute of the Environment. This Institute conducts research and offers many undergraduate classes focused on the intersection of environmental science and environmental policy.
Some Comments on the New LA 2020 Report
Civic leaders in Los Angeles have released a reasonable new report listing action items for improving the city's economic performance and quality of life. Here is a link to the LA Times article about it.
I must say that the report's first two policy proposals are goofy. Here is the first one
1.
.7 Miles Away from My House in Little Holmby
Could you live happily in this home? It is .7 miles away from my house and you can live in this 27,000 square feet of interior space for just $25 million bucks. If you are considering being my neighbor, click here for a virtual house tour.
A Southern Economist
I will be in Virginia next Thursday and in Georgia on Friday. I'm grateful to my friends at James Madison University's Economics Department for giving me the chance to speak about my Climatopolis book.
The Future of Middle Class Jobs in Los Angeles
The UCLA Anderson Forecast's report about the dismal conditions in the City of Los Angeles' labor market is of interest to the Wall Street Journal.
A NY Times Piece Examining When Green Nudges Backfire
This NY Times piece about motivating both liberals and conservatives to engage on climate change is worth reading. Back in the 1990s, applied economists wrestled with the general issue of what exogenous variables have a monotonic impact on raising the probability of taking a given action.
The Wall Street Journal on the IPCC's New Report
Now that it is acceptable to talk optimistically about climate change adaptation, the WSJ's editorial writers are having some fun. In today's piece, they throw some tough punches.
The $1 Environmental Economics Textbook
I have updated my Amazon Book titled Fundamentals of Environmental Economics and have lowered the price to $1.
Suburbanites Vote Against Carbon Pricing
Here is a sensible letter published in the Sacramento Bee that argues that a carbon tax bundled with a recycling of the revenue back to households would achieve the "win-win" of incentivizing behavioral change without penalizing suburbanites for their high fossil fuel use for driving and generating
REPEC Rankings For Research Productivity Over the Last Ten Years
I see that I'm UCLA #1 REPEC ranked economist for research conducted over the last ten years. I like that. What have I gotten done? Click here. REPEC doesn't count books or papers published in non-econ journals. Now that I'm #1, I look forward to some competition.
Why are Stenographers Still Used in the Court Room?
Jobs, jobs, jobs. The NY Times reports a sad story about a court room stenographer whose drinking impeded his ability to do his job and many court cases are now uncertain because the courtroom record doesn't exist.
The UCLA Anderson Forecast's Quarterly Event
Yesterday, I went to downtown LA to participate in this event. Can you spot me in this photo? In my brief remarks, I argued that LA's unique quality of life is our economy's "golden goose".
A Public Intellectual?
My mom always has hoped that I would evolve into becoming a minor league Galbraith as a public intellectual. In truth, my goal is to become a minor league Stigler. Tomorrow I will be part of the UCLA Anderson Forecast's team talking about the Future of Los Angeles.
Feeding the World in Our Hotter Future: The Behavioral Economists vs. The Rational Expectations Crew
As I have written many times, adapting to climate change poses the ultimate test for distinguishing the predictions of neo-classical economics from behavioral economics. The caricature I like to sketch is Spock vs. Homer Simpson.