Is UCLA Transportation Achieving "Carbon Neutrality"?
I am happy to read that UCLA has swapped out its diesel buses and now purchased clean buses (from China's BYD) but the entire fleet consists of 16 buses. This article ignores the fact that probably 75% of UCLA's employee transport miles commuting to campus take place in private vehicles.
Yes, USC is the Nation's #15 Ranked College
Times change. USC Football is now ranked below both its College (#15) and its Economics Department (#24 based on REPEC productivity measures). The WSJ ranking places USC where it deserves to be.
Rogoff on China
Harvard's Ken Rogoff appears to embrace a Keynesian demand side view arguing that China's economy is slowing and that this will drag down the growth of the rest of the world's economy. While he may be right in the short run, I disagree with his medium term view.
More Behavioral Economics from the NY Times: The Case of Volcano Eruption Risk with Implications for Climate Change Adaptation
The writers for the NY Times are a consistent bunch. In the Book Review section today, there is a short discussion by Kim Tingley reviewing a new book called Eruption by Steve Olson.
A Sketch of a Cost/Benefit Analysis of the Expo Line Extension in Los Angeles
First, a disclaimer. I ride the Expo Line from Westwood to USC several days a week. This Line extension to the beach cost over 1.5 billion dollars.
Celebrating the Role of Urbanization in Improving the Quality of Life of Young Indian Women
Ellen Barry has written an excellent piece that would leave Marx and Engels scratching their heads. In Bangalore, India young rural women are moving to the big city to work in the factories.
The NY Times Celebrates the Tacit Boycott of Don Trump's New Hotel In Washington DC
The economics of boycotts is pretty straightforward. Customers who vote with their pocketbook and choose not to purchase a product can reduce the profits of their target if there is a consensus to boycott the "bad guy".
A Nuanced Review of my 2016 Book: Blue Skies Over Beijing: Economic Growth and the Environment in China
Professor Mark Curtis of Wake Forest University has written a kind, fair and balanced review of my new China and pollution book.
The New York Times Opinion Page Opines on "Zero-Probability" Events
In this uncertain age, I admire both economists and journalists who acknowledge that we know that we don't know certain risks that we face. Such humility leads to better public policy.
Gains to Trade in Carbon Markets Between Liberals and Conservatives
This blog post will expand on my recent blog post on breaking the political gridlock over carbon pricing. As I have explained before, liberals and conservatives disagree over the "property right" concerning whether we have the right to produce GHG emissions for a price of $0.
The USC Economics Review Prepares to Launch
Given that the kickoff for the USC vs. Stanford football game will take place in 30 minutes, I figure this is a good time to announce our imminent launch of the USC Economics Review.
The Economics Research Agenda on Climate Change Adaptation
There are plenty of economics researchers estimating historical reduced form models estimating how past climate shocks (i.e heat waves, natural disasters) impacted economic activity in the developing and developed world.
Will Progressives Pay Climate Skeptics to Stop Polluting?
There are two pieces to the climate change policy debate focused on "pricing carbon". One is an incentive effect. All economists agree that if a $35 a ton carbon dioxide tax could be introduced that this would create supply and demand side incentives to decarbonize the world economy.
A 45 Minute Talk about my new China Book
Here is my new 45 minute Youtube video of my September 1st 2016 Lecture at USC on my new book "Blue Skies Over Beijing: Economic Growth and the Environment in China". More details are provided here. Here is the book's cover.
Climate Change Reporting Suffers from the fact that Reporters Ignore the "Cross-Elasticities" induced by Climate Shocks
The NY Times reporters need to brush up on their general equilibrium theory. Here is an interesting article about a British city named Carlisle that is suffering from more flooding.
Why Did Amazon's Kindle Publishing Reject My Advertisement's Phrasing for My $1 Book?
Yesterday, I received a rejection letter. The letter wasn't sent by the AER or the QJE but this email still hurt. Amazon rejected my "140 character" advertisement for my distinctive environmental economics book. Amazon did offer me a "revise and resubmit".
President John R. Coleman: A University of Chicago Trained Economist Who Chose to Work in Manual Labor and as a Prison Guard
The NY Times has published a fascinating obituary of John R. Coleman. He received his PHD from UChicago Econ in 1950 and wrote at least one book with George Shultz. He used his own time to run two unusual field experiments.
President Obama is Pessimistic About Our Ability to Adapt to Climate Change
In this blog post, I will quote from this NY Times article which reports an interview with the President focused on the impact of climate change.
A Ricardian Criteria for Choosing Which Places Merit "Climate Proofing" Using Public Funds
This article presents a case study focused on the allocation of scarce resources. The National Disaster Resilience Competition faced a decision for how to allocate $1 billion to make geographic areas more resilient in the face of new climate risks.
Peers at Work as of August 2016
The new monthly "report cards" for academic economists have been released. I'm most pleased that based on research output that USC Economics is now ranked #23 in the USA (note that Columbia is double counted). Ten years from now, I will write a blog post noting that we "are now" ranked #17.
The Economics of Coastal Flooding
Justin Gillis has written a useful piece for the NY Times but it has too much of a "doom and gloom" flavor for my taste.
My Powerpoint Slides for my "Blue Skies Over Beijing" Princeton Press book
On Thursday, I gave a book talk at USC's China Institute on my new "Blue Skies book". Here are my slides . A reporter from the Daily Trojan attended and wrote this piece. Several of my students attended my talk and asked me tough questions after my presentation.
The Urban Economics of African-American Exposure to Lead
Paul Krugman has written an important OP-ED on the causes and consequences of African-American over-exposure to lead but I only give him an A- for his urban economics logic. Given that he is one of the world's greatest spatial economists, I'm surprised that he didn't earn an A.