Environmental Economics

Someone called me a moron (and it wasn't one of my kids)

Apparently Steven Goddard doesn't like me pointing out his misrepresentation of the NOAA sea level data:

'Friday Beer Post' and 'Daily Demand and Supply' Combined

Over the past decade, there has been a boom in bourbon sales (John's Kentucky relatives rejoice!).  The demand increase has driven an increase in prices and move toward substitutes, like single-malt scotch.  Unfortunately for scotch substituters, the long-time attraction of scotch has been its long aging process and rare commodity status, causing inelastic supply of scotch (it is difficult to ramp up production in response to demand increases, resulting in little response in quantity supplied to price increases).  The result is rapid increases in the price of scotch, with little increase in the quantity supplied in the short-run.

Thirst for the liquor is booming around the world -- from the U.S. to developing countries like China -- pushing prices of older vintages through the roof, attracting savvy investors hoping to cash in and forcing distilleries to scramble to meet demand.

"The shortage of old and rare single malt ... has already started, and it's going to get worse," said Rickesh Kishnani, who launched the world's first whisky investment fund.

The problem is that age-labeled single malt Scotch has always been, by design, a limited commodity. Distillers produce a set amount in a given year with pretty much zero visibility about what demand will be like when the bottles start hitting venerable ages.

The industry woke up to the current boom too late. In the late 1980s, many distilleries were going out of business, and just a decade ago, Scotch exports were stagnating.

More capacity is being added now, but the bad news for whisky drinkers is the shortage could last another 10 to 15 years, experts say.

For the record, I am a Bourbon drinker.  Always have been (when I'm not drinking beer)--since, well, I'll keep that to myself in case my kids are reading.  

And I like to keep it simple: Jim Beam and Jack Daniels do just fine.  Especially when mixed with ginger ale or Coke.  Sure I will drink the niche-stuff (small batch) if someone else is buying--Knob Creek is yummy.  

And yes, I know Jack Daniels is technically a Tennessee whiskey and not Bourbon, but that difference is the same as the difference between 'soda' and 'pop.' Same product, different name.   

And Scotch is un-American. 

Literally.

Just sayin'.

I can't read my email

Einstein was a smart dude

Gravity exists!

OK, we kinda knew that, but gravity waves exist! 

Just like Einstein predicted. 

Science is cool.

 

 

Star Wars*, Academic Administration and Moral Suasion

A message I just sent to our department faculty:

I know it’s ridiculous timing, and the University scheduling committee needs to take a close look at this, but PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR GRADES FOR GRADUATING STUDENTS IN BY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. All other grades are due by Monday at midnight.

Sorry for the all caps, but I am on call tomorrow for anyone who does not get their grades in on time and frankly I don’t want to have to field calls while watching Star Wars with my son. 

So be kind to my son and get your grades in on time.

*I'm an admitted Star Wars dork.  The first trilogy defined my childhood--Episode IV came out when I was 7.  And John still occasionally calls me Chewbacca, I guess because I'm tall, hairy and only speak in grunts.

Proud Dad moment: The value of higher education

Official Oldest Daughter of Env-Econ is a sophomore finance major (stats and spanish minors) at a semi-expensive non-subsidized private liberal arts University.  She is currently taking a business stats class.  Last night she sent this to us:

Hello Parents,

This might be nerdy of me, but I am sending you my Excel Document which I in particular am extremely proud of so here you go!!!

Is it dusty in here?

I'm at that point in my career where I'm ready to do something absolutely crazy

And, as always, Matt Kahn makes a timely suggestion:

In the past, I've done some writing on social capital and civic engagement.   I just put the theory to the test by volunteering to serve on USC Econ's PHD Admissions Committee.     USC Economics is world renown for its excellence in econometrics.   With Antonio Bento, Dana Goldman, me and Arie Kapteyn now all at USC (and many other research active Price School faculty),  a talented student can take his/her knowledge of econometrics and apply it to the economics of aging, health, the environment and cities.  There are many exciting possibilities and permutations here.  I strongly encourage serious students to apply. I'm especially interested in attracting students who are graduates from U.S undergraduate institutions.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

For those of you who already have a Ph.D., perhaps it is time for you to do a refresher course to see if you are still at the frontier. It is sunny and 80 degrees today on November 18th 2015 in LA. Can you say the same thing about where you are now standing?

via greeneconomics.blogspot.com

Yes, I'm definitely within the frontier. What could be a better challenge than applying to the PhD program in a top economics department and doing the whole g.d. thing all over again? Of course, I'll need to bone up on my maths. I stopped at integral calculus as an undergrad but it should be fun taking real analysis and whatnot from the folks in Walker Hall. After I get accepted I can only hope to get an assistantship that would allow me and my family to live in the sunny city of angels for 6+ years. But dang, I'm just so excited about thinking a dissertation topic that would apply my new world renown econometrics skills (I've always wanted to be able to write out my own likelihood function in "matlab" ... [is that what the kids call it?]) to some hedonic data!!! And then I could jump in the labor market and go for that R1 job that I've always dreamed about. But, I also have location preferences. I hear that the weather is always wonderful in southern CA. 

A reminder of who we are supposed to be (or used to be?)

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Just seemed appropriate.

Just braggin' about my ballsy math

On Thursday I used 'blog-quality research to come up with a 'blog-park' figure for how much water might be saved by Los Angeles plan to use millions of ping pong balls to cover the local reservoir to prevent evaporation.  Using rough numbers from swimming pool evaporation, I came up with an estimate of 311 million gallons saved per year.  Well, today I saw this from NBC News:

California has released millions of plastic water-saving 'shade balls' into their water reservoirs in an attempt to prevent evaporation as the state battles record-breaking drought. The effort is expected to save some 300 million gallons of water each year.

Assuming their number is accurate, I came up with a number that was off by less than 4% using nothing more than Google and 15 minutes of my time.  

Just sayin'.

Happy Earth Day: If everyone lived like me, we'd need 5.6 Planet Earths to provide enough resources

According to the Earth Day Network Ecological Footprint Calculator. You can thank me later.