Environmental Economics

"Estimating Time"

Source: http://xkcd.com/1658/

Urban Dictionary word of the day: Behaving British

Definition:

The act of doing something you know you'll regret immediately after.

 

"I always knew it was a terrible idea to vote 'leave', I guess I was just behaving British."

And seriously, how will this affect the EU ETS? Did they ever think of that? No, the big stupidheads. 

 

Your daily reminder ...

... that I'm a very famous sports economist*:

This study shows that fans and people living in the region of 28 Football Bundesliga teams from all three divisions are willing to support their team financially. Survey respondents were asked for their willingness-to-pay to avoid a negative outcome (e.g., relegation) and to achieve a positive outcome (e.g., promotion). Fan bonds are applied as an alternative payment vehicle within the contingent valuation method. The results show that different factors affect the decision to support the team and the actual amount of willingness-to-pay—for attendees and nonattendees. Public goods are particularly relevant for reporting a positive willingness-to-pay. (JEL Z23, L83, H41)

Wicker, P., Whitehead, J. C., Johnson, B. K. and Mason, D. S. (2016), WILLINGNESS-TO-PAY FOR SPORTING SUCCESS OF FOOTBALL BUNDESLIGA TEAMS. Contemporary Economic Policy, 34: 446–462. doi: 10.1111/coep.12148

via onlinelibrary.wiley.com

One of my favorite quotes from the Western meetings is that "the CVM is like Wal Mart...." I forget the rest but it kind of says it all, right?

*And athlete, here I am draining a three in the High Country Senior Games 3v3 basketball on Wednesday night. The without-their-big-man High Country 50+ lost to the Ashe Panthers 55+ by a handful of points. Three of us fouled out (huh?) and we finished the game with only two guys on the court. You gotta have a big man in Senior Games. 

Friday Dancing Economist Post

I figure since John put it on Facebook, I can put it here...

 

"Watch John Oliver Blast Exaggerated Scientific Findings"

I'm watching right now. The video is safe for work because it is about science, the link is from the Chronicle and they bleep the most naughty words:

John Oliver, the comedian and host of the HBO show Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, has perfected the art of the searing, outrage-induced explanatory monologue. The topic for Sunday’s show? Scientific studies.

It’s no secret that trumpeted scientific findings often range from misleading to outright false. Remember the University of Maryland study that found that chocolate milk could help prevent concussions in athletes — research that was partly financed by a company that makes chocolate milk?

Much of Mr. Oliver’s segment is devoted to how legitimate science can be distorted when it leaves scientists’ hands. Exaggerated findings are often the result of “failures by multiple parties,” The Chronicle’s Paul Basken wrote in 2014, “including the journalists who write the news articles and the scientists who, in most cases, are required by their institutions to approve the press releases in advance.”

John Oliver discusses p-hacking, replication and sponsor bias.

"ExxonMobil CEO Relieved It Finally Too Late To Do Anything About Climate Change"

Good ol' Rex:

Saying the multinational oil and gas conglomerate had “really dodged a bullet,” ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson told reporters Wednesday how relieved he was now that it was finally too late to do anything about climate change.

The 64-year-old petroleum executive, who acknowledged that throughout his career he had feared the public might take action to curb rising temperatures by imposing emissions restrictions or mandating a switch to alternative energy, said he was just happy that the window for avoiding the planet’s environmental destruction had closed, and that the entire industry was now free to carry on as usual.

“I was really worried for a while there that some kind of law would be passed to stop us from releasing all those hydrocarbons into the atmosphere, but I guess not,” said Tillerson, describing how he felt as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that catastrophic climate change was an inescapable certainty. “Seriously, it’s a huge load off. There were a number of real tense years after the recycling movement picked up momentum when we thought people might all turn away from fossil fuels next. But it’s just so reassuring to know that we passed the point where it’s no longer possible to stop global warming through environmental regulation or green energy or anything like that.”

“Now I can finally just relax,” he continued. “This really makes things so much easier.”

The CEO remarked that, back when it was still possible to halt the devastating effects of climate change, he constantly feared that the energy industry would be forced to make costly concessions toward sustainability, perhaps investing in expensive technology that would reduce oil and gas companies’ environmental impact, and thereby severely harm his corporation’s bottom line.

Tillerson told reporters that growing public interest in wind and solar energy gave him “a pretty good scare” for a while, but noted how he eventually came to realize the public’s engagement was largely limited to vocalizing support for the initiatives rather than taking any substantive action to move the overall energy sector in those directions. He also admitted to losing sleep in 2009 when Congress considered regulating carbon emissions with a cap-and-trade system, although he said he now felt silly for ever believing that might actually happen.

via www.theonion.com

Daily demand and supply: the vanilla shortage

The Onion:

Top vanilla producer Madagascar is experiencing a shortage of the plant due to rising global demand for natural flavorings, potentially leading to a spike in ice cream prices this summer.

What do you think?

“I have this six-year-old bottle of extract in my cupboard, if that helps things.” Don Buckley, Systems Analyst

“Edy’s can gouge me all they want for that real slow-churned stuff.” Chet Baisell, Unemployed

“We should be able to get through this. There’s no vanilla in pizza.” Eva Landiss, Element Namer

"There's no vanilla in pizza." Truer words were never spoken.  

"How Coastal Cities Are Preparing For Climate Change"

With zero chance of a carbon tax in the U.S., here are some important examples of adaptation:

With experts predicting that the effects of global warming could be catastrophic in the next 50 years, here are some ways that coastal cities are addressing the challenges of rising sea levels:

• Bar Harbor, ME: Officials urging residents to stockpile vintage charm in case of emergency
• Manhattan, NY: Initiating 10-year plan to replace inhabited residences with vacant Emirati-owned condo developments
• Nashville, TN: Making a concerted effort to keep their perimeter 435 miles from the nearest ocean
• Boston, MA: Residents have opened all of their doors and windows and issued an open challenge to the forces of nature to come at them
• Seattle, WA: Space Needle jacked up 200 feet higher
• Baltimore, MD: Restoring natural shoreline buffers like wetlands and shuttered factories
• Washington, D.C.: Thorough Scotchgarding of the Bill of Rights
• Atlantic City, NJ: Developers working around the clock to build something that would be worth saving from a flood
• San Francisco, CA: Dutifully pricing entire population out of any homes within 50 miles of coastline
• Galveston, TX: All set to rebuild coastal levees with government funding the moment Congress gets around to admitting climate change is real

via www.theonion.com

"The Funniest Papers in the History of Economics", by stand-up economist Yoram Bauman, presented at the American Economic Association Humor Session, January 4, 2016.

Sad note: Dubious and Dubiouser is not even mentioned at the end!

Someone has been listening to too much AC/DC*

From the Miscellany section of Economic Inquiry, Andy Keeler:

Welfare economics must adapt to the growing consensus over the assignment of rights to animals. We extend nonmarket valuation techniques to the study and measurement of the preferences of Chinook salmon regarding their aquatic habitat and the value of their existence. We find that these techniques are as valid for fish as they are for humans. Our applied study indicates that opportunities exist for Pareto-improving trades between salmon and California agricultural and hydropower interests. (JEL Q510)

via onlinelibrary.wiley.com

I feel moved to boast that I provided some feedback, not a formal review, on this paper to the MISC editor. 

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*I hope for this guy's sake he has tenure.