The Value of Information Related to the Cost of Climate Change
The NY Times has published a fun "Room for Debate" focused on climate change fiction and the role of such work in shaping public opinion. To say something new here, let's think about this topic through the lens of the modern field experiment literature.
Graduate Environmental and Urban Economics Education
UCLA does not have enough Ph.D. students interested in a graduate course on environmental economics. That's a shame but I don't take it too personally (maybe I should?). Fortunately, the University of California's Center for Energy and Environmental Economics offers a week long summer course.
Budget Deficits and Climate Change Politics
This article highlights that President Obama and the Democrats are changing tactics in their worthwhile attempt to build a political coalition to reduce U.S GHG emissions. The Green Team now wants to tell a narrative that the U.S will save money over the long run by reducing GHG emissions now.
Some Comments on Robert Rubin's "Risky Business"
Secretary Rubin recently wrote an Opinion Piece in the Washington Post. Having read his autobiography (and having met him once at Brookings), I know that he is the ultimate prudent man thinking hard about future scenarios, their likelihood of taking place and the impacts of such scenarios.
Chickens in Cities
As I walk the streets of Berkeley, CA, I hear many chickens clucking away. Today, the NY Times presents a video profile of my Hamilton College classmate Robert McMinn. I see that after 26 years he hasn't changed! He has his hair and his chickens. Time has not been so kind to me.
Human Capital Mitigates Many Pollution Exernalities
At the University of Chicago, I was taught human capital theory by several future Nobel Laureates and Clark Medalists (Becker, Heckman, Murphy) and by a man who would have won a Nobel Prize. None of these scholars ever mentioned the link between human capital and environmental economics.
Climate Change and Indoor vs. Outdoor Hockey
Ice melts when temperature exceeds 32 F. Many Canadian kids have practiced hockey on frozen outdoor ponds and lakes. If climate change warms winters, will the quality of NHL hockey suffer? This article says "yes".
Apocalypse Romm
For some pessimism about quality of life in the year 2393 read this blog entry by Joe Romm. He indicts free markets ideology with encouraging an individualism that chips away at collective action solutions.
Allen Iverson and many NBA players offer a Test of the Permanent Income Hypothesis
NBA basketball players know their age, their contract's terms and the likely length of their playing career, and they can form a good guess of their post-career earnings.
The Shanghai 2014 International Forum on Public Policy and Governance
On July 5th and 6th, Ed Glaeser and I participated in a large Shanghai conference at a very elegant Howard Johnson Hotel. Throughout the conference, a Lamborghini sports car was parked in front of the hotel. It did not belong to me. Here my slides for my Shanghai 2014 talk.
The 1% in Academic Economics Over the Last Ten Years
This REPEC index converts each economist's output (measured in 38 different categories) over the last ten years into a single index that can sorted so that 40600 registered economists are ranked.
The Tesla Model III Will Offer a Clean Test of the Coase Conjecture
It has been reported that a $35,000 Tesla make will be sold in the year 2017.
My 5 Nation World Tour is Over
I have been outside of the USA for 37 days. I went from Italy to Croatia to Turkey to Israel to China. On Blue Sky days, I saw amazing islands as I flew from Israel to France (on my way to China).
Do I Want to Connect with my Mother on LinkedIn?
This is my last blog post for 3 weeks so I will leave you with a deep thought about LinkedIn connections. I'm wondering if the rate of progress in economics would double if LinkedIn would stop sending all of us crazy emails that take time to contemplate and respond to.
Random Thoughts
I have now spent one day in Tel Aviv and soon will fly to Shanghai. When I am in China, this blog will not be updated because I won't be able to access it. When I return to LA in late July, these entries will start up again. Tel Aviv is a modern beach city.
