Environmental Economics

Girls behaving badly

From the inbox, from "a friend" (let's call him "j. lundegard"):

too bad your study on "global warming is bad for the economy" didn't get picked up anywhere. god almighty! -- i have read more about this in the past two weeks than on paris and britney.  what is this world coming to? isn't hearing about girls behaving badly  more important than some stupid thing with the environment?...

My reply:

You may not realize this, but I did the news conference topless, and after a cocaine/heroin highball. I'm currently in rehab.

Fun in the sun and sand in my...

I'm off for a week of visits with family in coastal Lewes, Delaware and scenic Glen Burnie, Maryland (most notable former resident besides me?  Frank Zappa). 

A week of sand, crabs (the kind you eat), beer and snowballs--a Maryland thing.  I'll try to keep you posted on any interesting developments. 

Have a safe and happy 4th of July. 

I was on the Danny Fontana Show

And The Danny Fontana Show can only have the best guests:

Fun. Entertaining. Engaging. Intelligent. These are just a few of the words used to describe The Danny Fontana Show. If you’re tired of the same old boring, uninformed regurgitation of the news each day, make a change in your listening habits.

This two hour daily show is a hot talk format that looks at the current hot issue of the day. Danny will look at this issue from a political, economic and spiritual perspective.

My segment was scheduled for 5:20 on Tuesday, June 26. At this time I was also scheduled to be on vacation, at my mother's in Kentucky. I figured I could handle the call amidst the chaos.

Curiouser and curiouser

From the WSJ Energy Roundup (Hubbard argues for a carbon tax):

At yesterday’s Deals & Deal Makers Conference in New York, Glenn Hubbard, the Columbia Business School Dean and former Bush administration economic adviser, argued in favor of a carbon tax. “I believe that technology is the vital solution to fixing the problems of climtae change,” he told the Journal’s David Wessel in the video embedded at left.

“But businesspeople don’t innovate because it feels good; they innovate because there’s a return to that innovation. If you want a return to that innovation, you will have to price it – you will need to put a price on carbon, which means having, either through a cap-and-trade system or an explicit tax, some incentive to innovate carbon-saving technology.”

In the video, Hubbard also says he thinks it’s “quite likely” that a cap-and-trade scheme and/or a carbon tax will be implemented soon.

Review of Environmental Economics and Policy

First Issue Free Online!

Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, published by Oxford Journals on behalf of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economics aims to fill the gap between traditional academic journals and the general interest press by providing a widely accessible yet scholarly source for the latest thinking on environmental economics and related policy.

For more information and to view the first issue free online, please visit the following webpage: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/page/2865/1

Who said it? Climate change edition

Trying to upstage Tim in the Who said it? game ...

Who said it?

From LiveScience.com on June 22--a quote on disappearing beaches:

I’m predicting that they [will take] fewer beach trips.

See below the jump for the answer.

Who said it?

From LiveScience.com on June 22--a quote on disappearing beaches:

I’m predicting that they [will take] fewer beach trips.

See below the jump for the answer.

Who said it? Gas Price Edition

Who said it?

From the St. Louis Post Dispatch on Wednesday--a quote on adjusting CAFE standards versus a gas tax for improving fuel efficiency:

Cars are bigger and heaver and less fuel-efficient because that's what consumers want.  To me and to most economists, it seems most efficient to get the price of gasoline right. Prices send a much stronger signal to alter people's behavior.

See below the jump for the answer.

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain

At the risk of more public humiliation, here is a link to the video of the NC climate change economic study news conference: N.C. Beaches Eroding 2 Feet Per Year, Study Finds.

I watched it today and I cringed today*.

Here is a fun drinking game. Take a shot every time you (1) hear me say "ummmmm," (2) mutter something unintelligible and (3) any other uncomfortable pause (double shot!).

*Update: The methadone usually kicks in before 10 am.

It's Thirsty Thursday

This one's not related to the environment, but I'm not going to apologize for it, dammit, because it's about my second favorite subject...confusing correlation and causation...oh, and drinking. 

I heard about this study in the journal Alcoholism:  Clinical and Experimental Research* on the way in to the office today.  I put the abstract below the jump, but here's the short version: Guys in frats drink a lot on Thursday nights and don't take classes on Friday mornings. 

I don't question the results, but I do question the recommendations derived from the results.

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