Environmental Economics

Recreational user fees at work

Grand Canyon National Park charges a $25 per vehicle user fee.  Fees are used for infrastructure improvements to the park, and they seem to be working.  I couldn't help but think of John when I saw the sign to the right.  Sorry for the picture quality.  It's the best I could do while trying to inconspicuously take a picture of a restroom with a camera phone while people are streaming in and out (the sign in the middle reads UserFee: Your Fees at Work).   My kids hid in shame. 

Throwdown!

From Mankiw's Blog:

Each year, I meet a number of highly promising students who were accepted by [MIT and Harvard] and are having trouble choosing between them. Here is my advice:

1. Don't sweat it. You will get a great education at either place.
2. Look up your favorite ranking of economists' productivity and look at which school has more faculty near the top. Those are the profs you want to hang around and learn to emulate.

For example, if you use this standard ranking and look at the top 50, you will learn that MIT has 3 and Harvard has 12.

That should settle the question.

Not quite.

Not cleaning up after one's dog is socially unacceptable?

Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags:

There is something missing from this otherwise typical bustling cityscape. There are taxis and buses. There are hip bars and pollution. Every other person is talking into a cellphone. But there are no plastic shopping bags, the ubiquitous symbol of urban life.

In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags; customers who want them must now pay 33 cents per bag at the register. There was an advertising awareness campaign. And then something happened that was bigger than the sum of these parts.

Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94 percent. Within a year, nearly everyone had bought reusable cloth bags, keeping them in offices and in the backs of cars. Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them became socially unacceptable — on a par with wearing a fur coat or not cleaning up after one’s dog.

At the local grocery store we can purchase durable bags for $0.99 from a display on the way out of the store (after we are asked if we want paper or plastic). Needless to say, I have about 100 or so plastic grocery bags at home. And, needless to say, I'd avoid paying $33 for them if there was a tax.

Hat tip: Todd Cherry.

      

I went to the dump last weekend

When my students frown on non-recyclers, I ask if they know what it costs to throw trash away. They haven't a clue, and neither did I, suggesting a low price. A low price signals a lack of much scarcity ... so, we shouldn't worry too much about trash.

But now I know the price. I cleaned out my garage last weekend, need to stow the car and avoid morning frost, and went to the dump. I deposited 280 pounds, or 0.14 tons, of crap. At a price of $45 per ton, I would have paid a $6.30 fee if I didn't have a free ton. Hmm, if I could afford more crap, I certainly could afford to dump it when I don't need it anymore.

My conclusion: landfill space is cheap.

And, hey, this is the first post in our new "solid waste" category. Celebrate!