Progressive Thinking at Our Universities
The Professor Watchlist has been posted and I see that a brilliant co-author of mine is on the list. While he would "shoot from the hip" and say witty but controversial things, I have always viewed him to be an open minded debater and I always enjoyed speaking to him.
A Provocative Claim from my 2010 Climatopolis Book
Six years ago, I published Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive in Our Hotter Future. I'm on record arguing that urbanization will allow us (especially those who live in richer cities) to adapt to climate change.
Did Coastal Local Zoning in Progressive States Caused the Trump Win? Post #2
This post represents a sequel to this recent popular post.
President Trump Will Use the Rest of World's Low Carbon Push to "Bring Home" U.S Jobs
As I read this NY Times piece, I had a premonition. President-Elect Trump will play the following strategy in his attempt to make America Great Again. He will withdraw from the COP 21 Carbon Mitigation treaty and intentionally enrage the rest of the world.
Facebook News as a "Game of Telephone" on Steroids or What is the Civic Responsibility of a Dominant Social Media Platform?
This blog post will pick up on my post from yesterday. I have now read Matthew Yglesias' recent Vox piece and his case study of Pepsi and Trump. Recall the game of Telephone. One person whispers a message to the next person in the chain who then whispers it to the next member of the chain.
A Proposed Field Experiment in Ideological Mixing
Skimming this NY Times graphics, I had the following thought.
Will Demographic Change Slow Down China's Medium Term Growth?
Prof. Wang Feng of UC Irvine has written an important piece about demographics and China's medium term economic growth. He argues that Taiwan's recent history provides a preview of China's likely future dynamics. He stresses that Taiwan's urbanites choose to be consumers rather than savers.
Tom Friedman's Advice for President Trump
Has the NY Times made it impossible to cut and paste from its articles? I wanted to grab a paragraph from Friedman's piece today but I'm not able to. I ran a test and I can cut and paste from the NY Post (a close substitute). In his piece, Friedman makes an interesting claim.
Some Facebook Economics: The Downside of Free Communication in a Huge Social Network
Years ago, I read a piece arguing that the Internet was slowing down progress in theoretical physics. If young physicists didn't have access to the Internet, they wouldn't know what the leaders were working on.
Dinner with USC Econ Undergraduates
As the Director of Undergraduate Studies at USC Econ, I am trying to get to know more of our students. Last night, I took five smart young people to dinner. The group consisted of three first year students, a senior and a junior transfer. It turns out that not all Economics majors are the same.
Cash for Clunkers Revisited
At the peak of the Great Recession, there were stimulus programs such as "Cash for Clunkers". Environmental economists wrote papers documenting that the Social Cost of Carbon would need to be over $200 to justify such programs based on carbon abatement.
Acemoglu on U.S Decline
All economists should read this new piece by MIT's Daron Acemoglu. Acemoglu and Robinson have long argued that nation's with inclusive institutions grow and that it is difficult to build and maintain such elusive institutions. Dr.
The Rise of USC Economics
These are exciting days at USC. Here is an example of the type of email I receive on a weekly basis at USC. I'm highly optimistic about our future and for the future of the USC Economics Review (our new online economics journal). I didn't receive such emails at my previous university.
Some Predictions about U.S Environmental Policy Under President Trump
USC's media team emailed me asking for some pithy comments about the election's consequences for environmental policy. The full article is available here. In this blog post, I will elaborate on my thinking.
President-Elect Trump Will Address the Climate Change Adaptation Challenge
I understand why Joe Romm and Brad Plumer are deeply disappointed about the election. Even if HRC had become President, the global carbon mitigation efforts would have been unlikely to have significantly bent this curve. Stare at this time trend.
Short Tesla?
If the Federal "Green Industrial Complex" is dead for the next four years, should you short Tesla? Musk's stock is down 3% today.
Did California Zoning Cause the Trump Win? A Counter-Factual of My State's Electoral Count if Housing Supply is Elastic
The Trump Win means that some great economists (I'm thinking of Summers, Krueger, Goolsbee etc) will return to academic research since they won't be joining the new administration.
PERC's Conference on Free Market Environmentalism and Urban Economics
Over the weekend, roughly 25 urban economists gathered in Atlanta for a PERC conference on free market environmentalism and the city. I served as a co-organizer along with GSU's Spencer Banzhaf. Ed Glaeser gave a great keynote dinner talk.
The USC Economics Review has Launched
I'm very proud to announce that the USC Economics Review is now online thanks to the hard work of five very talented USC undergraduates.
Rising Public Transit Quality in Big U.S Cities
I take public transit to USC each day. I have also written several papers about public transit. Two of the best known are available here and here. In Los Angeles,there is wide news coverage that the city is expanding the transport network.