Environmental Economics

Keeping it real?

Real Climate Economics:

In a recent op-ed for the New York Times entitled Going Green but Getting Nowhere,  Gernot Wagner reminds us that individual actions alone can’t solve the climate problem. To solve climate change and other planetary ills, we need real economic incentives. We can green the planet faster by  “mastering some basic economics” and supporting smart carbon policy than recycling plastic bags.

Helping others understand climate economics  and the economic imperative for firm limits on carbon emissions is part of what Real Climate Economics is all about. But Gernot makes some strong assertions in his op-ed that have created quite a stir. For one, he likens a market system that fails to price the full social cost of carbon to socialism. Yet, at the same time, Gernot argues that the social cost of carbon is only $20 per ton, or a mere 20 cents per gallon of gasoline .

In a recent letter to the New York Times in response to Gernot’s op-ed, Frank Ackerman argues that our market system is grossly inefficient (not socialist) because it ignores the social cost of carbon, which may – according to some recent studies – be as high as $900 per ton under the worst plausible climate change scenarios. 

If the rule of thumb can be extrapolated, RCE suggests an increase in the price of gasoline of $9/gallon. The best estimates the optimal gas tax/price seem to be in the $1/gallon range.

If only I were a climate skeptic then I too could enjoy "thousands of dollars in travel, dining and gift expenses"

From the Calgary Herald via the Chronicle:

A pair of "research" accounts at the University of Calgary, funded mainly by the oil and gas industry, were used for a sophisticated international political campaign that involved high-priced consultants, lobbying, wining, dining, and travel with the goal of casting doubt on climate change science, newly-released accounting records have revealed. ...

"There was a debate going on at the time about (whether humans were causing global warming) and it was not being discussed outside a tiny cadre of climatologists," [University of Calgary political science professor Barry] Cooper said in an email. "Happily, that is no longer the case. Moreover, I viewed this issue and I still view this issue as a public policy matter more than a scientific one. How else would a political scientist be expected to view such matters?" ...

The university paid nearly $250,000 to APCO Worldwide, Morten Paulsen Consulting and Fleishman-Hillard Canada, where Paulsen also worked as a senior vice-president, before shutting down the accounts in 2007 in the wake of an audit that determined some activities were political in nature.

Weird this: climate science is a "public policy matter more than a scientific one"?

I've said this before and I'm sure I'll feel forced to say it again. If you are a social scientist, your primary job is to consider the social science aspects of climate change. If you are an economist you should investigate the benefits and costs of climate policy. An economist doesn't know much more (or less) about the science of climate change than the Governor of Texas.

Surplus

A low quality product, consumers with income uncertainty (if not lower incomes) and a high price:

With several thousand tickets to Saturday night’s rivalry game between the University of Louisville and University of Kentucky football teams still unsold, John “Ticketmaster” Calipari took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon to rally the troops.

“Big Blue Nation, if you are not real sick or going to church on Saturday night, then there’s no excuse for not filling up our stadium!” the UK men’s basketball coach tweeted.

Actually, I heard a few excuses beyond “sick” and “praying” from folks not planning to attend.

No. 1 on the list was “broke.” All right, maybe not broke, but at $75 a ticket you don’t have to be hurting financially to take a pass.

UK and U of L make their annual matchup a “premium” game. That’s a marketing guy’s way of saying “jack up the ticket price.” The economy has been making a dent in sports attendance for a while now. ...

As the Southeastern Conference schedule inches toward expanding to nine games, expect debate to heat up as to whether UK should discontinue this series, or at least not renew it every season.

via www.courier-journal.com

Why would UK discontinue the UofL series? In order to replace it with another Sun Belt or MAC game? Let's see, we should replace a game against an in-state rival from a BCS conference with a meaningless opponent so that there is a greater chance of winning so that we can just barely get the 6 wins necessary to go to a minor bowl game, all the while scraping the bottom of the SEC.

Is there anything not irritating (and here) about major college sports these days?

From this point forward I will only answer to the name Traja D. Commons

This may be the last time Los Angeles Lakers forward Ron Artest will answer to that name.

The NBA star, who is known for his defense and unpredictable behavior, will now be known by a different name.

On Friday, the basketball player formerly known as Ron Artest will officially become Metta World Peace, his publicist says.

"Metta is his official first name; which in the Buddhist tradition means loving-kindness and friendliness toward others and his last name is World Peace," his publicist said.

via www.cnn.com

A comment on Steve Earle's "The Gulf of Mexico"

Currently in my CD player:

About the closest Earle comes to optimism is on the closing "This City," an ode to New Orleans that declares, "This city will never drown." That song has a companion piece, "The Gulf of Mexico," an actual sea chantey that makes a nod to Earle's own history on the Gulf Coast.

via www.newsobserver.com

Some of my favorite songs of all time are Steve Earle's Irish tunes, but Cajun-Irish? I'm having a hard time getting my ears wrapped around that one.

AGCC

Yuck, the Raleigh paper is promoting the University of Texas to the ACC:

If the ACC attempts to boost its TV revenues by expanding again in the near future, there is no better school to recruit than the University of Texas.

And if the Big 12 loses top schools and dissolves, Texas has excellent reasons to consider the ACC.

via www.newsobserver.com

The Atlantic and Gulf Coast Conference?

Of course, as they say, the university is first looking out for its student-athletes. Weekly travel to the east coast (or west coast with the Pac-12 option) will only strengthen university academics (and The Longhorn Network).

Maryland Pride

I've been managing to not give Tim the business about the goings on in college football but I've been pushed to the edge:

The bright color schemes created by Under Armour and other manufacturers reflect current off-field fashion trends. “We are seeing a surge of luminous, bright colors for menswear,” said Giang Cao, the menswear editor for Fashionising.com.

Still, Mr. Cao called the Pride uniforms “a weird mishmash of patterns” that runs “opposite the current trend of block minimalism.”

via www.nytimes.com

These uniforms made the game almost unwatchable [Insert joke about unwatchable Maryland football games]. It was the first time I chose the non-High Def sports channel:

 

I just participated in a "faculty perceptions of social technology" survey

On the gender pay gap

I have a note in my permanent file related to a comment on a student survey accusing me of sexism for discussing this issue with some standard economics (e.g., the more the competitive the market, the lower the profits for discriminating firms):

A new study released Monday by the U.S. Labor Department found that women, who currently earn 23 cents less on the dollar when doing the same work as men, should in fact be earning only 20 cents less than their male counterparts. "This is 2011, and it is frankly ridiculous that women earn only 77 percent of what men make, when they should clearly be making 80 percent of what men make," department spokesman Frank Neiderberg said. "There's simply no doubt that, in this day and age, women contribute a full four-fifths of what men do to the economy. No doubt whatsoever." A coalition of feminist groups said the report "is a small step in the right direction, but doesn't go nearly far enough," causing many observers to point out that nothing is ever good enough for those people.

via www.theonion.com

Two thick and juicy boneless white meat chicken filets (Original Recipe®), two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese and Colonel's Sauce

Double down?

The bankruptcy of California-based Solyndra underscores the need for the United States to double down on investments in clean energy, Jonathan Silver, the executive director of the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office, will argue Wednesday during an oversight hearing in front of a House Energy and Commerce Committee panel.

via thehill.com

Another definition of "double down" is to double your bet. If you are playing blackjack you double your bet and ask for another card when you have a good chance of succeeding with the next card.

This seems to be quite different from the current context, where the government tried to pick a winner in the renewable energy market and failed. Back to the context of blackjack ... we might be holding a losing hand, say a 10 and 7, and then decide to double down even though we are likely to lose.

Note: It might also be similar to doubling the fiscal stimulus when the first one didn't really work.