Environmental and Urban Economics

I have co-authored a new book that argues that the answer is "YES" but there are many people who disagree with this claim.

At Johns Hopkins University, I taught Urban Economics in Spring 2020.  Many of my students were skeptical about the possibility that "gentrification" of cities such as Baltimore would improve the quality of life of local long time residents.  I brought in one speaker from the City Government who told my class that she hoped that no billionaires would move to Baltimore.  On my Twitter feed, I often "meet" people who voice deep concerns about the consequences of "unlocking the economic potential" of post-industrial cities such as Baltimore and Detroit.

California real estate is desirable.  I own property there.  Zillow teaches us that it has the most valuable land in America with a Zillow average price of $644,000 in April 2021.     The national Zillow price is $276,000.   Is this difference caused by supply or demand?

Over the years, I have written several papers about what makes a place such as California so desirable (and thus featuring high demand). 

My 2006 Green Cites book --- on the rising desirability of great places to live.

In February 2021, Johns Hopkins University Press published my new co-authored book Unlocking the Potential of Post-Industrial Cities.  Mac McComas and I have written an urban economics book that takes a sober and realistic look at urban economic growth and quality of life in the key center cities of Baltimore, Cleveland, Detroit, Philly, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.  Up until now, the book isn't generating much interest.

A blog post that responds to Noah Smith's provocative piece titled Why Has Climate Economics Failed Us?.   It raises a deep question.  What is the point of climate economics research?  I will respond below.  Dr. Smith's piece also throws some low blows.  My friend Richard Tol is singled out for reasons I don't understand.  Go to Professor Tol's Google Scholar webpage and read his work.

First, a preamble.  I am a microeconomist.  I do not write down Integrated Assessment Models.

In this blog post, I'd like to sketch out some "rules of the game" to raise the likelihood that Americans will earn a good rate of return on the $2 Trillion dollars that the Biden Administration has proposed to be spent on infrastructure.

A case study about petty crime.  A risk neutral thief will steal if the expected benefits are greater than the expected cost.  The expected cost of theft (for those without a guilty conscience) equals the probability of detection multiplied by the $ punishment if caught.   The expected benefits depend on what the person steals.  What is the resale value of the object? How much does the thief value the object if he doesn't sell it.

This background now allows me to tell my story.

In their important book: The Race Between Education and Technology,  Claudia Goldin and Larry Katz use a supply and demand framework to discuss changes in the U.S labor markets over the last 100 years.   For decades in the middle of the 20th Century when manufacturing was thriving in the U.S,  the wage premium for being highly educated was steady over time and more Americans were graduating from high school and these two facts combined meant that income inequality was declining.