Could it be a faded rose from days gone by?
And did I hear you say?
He was a-meetin' you here today?
To take you to that mansion in the sky?
Questions, questions. Here are a few for your students, courtesy of the WSJ Weekly Review (via me):
Small Cars are Dangerous Cars
by Sam Kazman
Apr 17, 2009
TOPICS: Environmental Regulation, Regulation
SUMMARY: Fuel economy zealots can kill you.
CLASSROOM APPLICATION: "The super-high efficiency minicar has become the Holy Grail for many environmentalists. But on Tuesday, a new study on minicar safety tossed some cold water on the dream. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reported that in a series of test crashes between minicars and midsize models, minis such as the Smart car provided significantly less protection for their passenger." The article is great for classroom discussions of opportunity cost and trade-offs because it explicitly notes the trade-off in changing vehicle weight between crashworthiness and fuel efficiency. "Greater weight may increase crashworthiness, but it also decreases miles per gallon, so there's an inevitable trade-off between safety and efficiency."
QUESTIONS:
1. (Introductory) Construct a graph with crashworthiness (death rate per 1000 crashes) and fuel efficiency (miles per gallon). Construct a production possibility frontier. Discuss how vehicle weight changes can lead to movements along the frontier.
2. (Advanced) Research question. Explain the following empirical phenomenon. "The death rate in minis in multi-vehicle crashes is almost twice as high as that of large cars. And in single-vehicle crashes, where there's no oversized second vehicle to blame, the difference is even greater: Passengers in minis suffered three times as many deaths as in large cars." That is, compared to large vehicles, why do minis do relatively better in multi-vehicle crashes that in single-car crashes? Does this empirical phenomenon imply that at least some large vehicles are strictly inside the production possibility frontier?
3. (Introductory) Should the Environmental Protection Agency take into account the added risk of small vehicles when setting fuel efficiency standards?
4. (Advanced) What methodology could the EPA use to determine these monetary values?
by Sam Kazman
Apr 17, 2009
TOPICS: Environmental Regulation, Regulation
SUMMARY: Fuel economy zealots can kill you.
CLASSROOM APPLICATION: "The super-high efficiency minicar has become the Holy Grail for many environmentalists. But on Tuesday, a new study on minicar safety tossed some cold water on the dream. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reported that in a series of test crashes between minicars and midsize models, minis such as the Smart car provided significantly less protection for their passenger." The article is great for classroom discussions of opportunity cost and trade-offs because it explicitly notes the trade-off in changing vehicle weight between crashworthiness and fuel efficiency. "Greater weight may increase crashworthiness, but it also decreases miles per gallon, so there's an inevitable trade-off between safety and efficiency."
QUESTIONS:
1. (Introductory) Construct a graph with crashworthiness (death rate per 1000 crashes) and fuel efficiency (miles per gallon). Construct a production possibility frontier. Discuss how vehicle weight changes can lead to movements along the frontier.
2. (Advanced) Research question. Explain the following empirical phenomenon. "The death rate in minis in multi-vehicle crashes is almost twice as high as that of large cars. And in single-vehicle crashes, where there's no oversized second vehicle to blame, the difference is even greater: Passengers in minis suffered three times as many deaths as in large cars." That is, compared to large vehicles, why do minis do relatively better in multi-vehicle crashes that in single-car crashes? Does this empirical phenomenon imply that at least some large vehicles are strictly inside the production possibility frontier?
3. (Introductory) Should the Environmental Protection Agency take into account the added risk of small vehicles when setting fuel efficiency standards?
4. (Advanced) What methodology could the EPA use to determine these monetary values?
I know the answer to #4 without studying. I'm smart that way.
