Globalisation and the Environment

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• C02 market gets complicated

  The success of the carbon trading market means the array of products derived from the simple premise of buying and selling permits has exploded.
  
  As with any financial instrument there is money to be made from making the system as complicated as possible. The less people understand the easier [...]

  Posted: November 22, 2007, 3:57am EST

• Overdramatic climate change picture of the day

  
  The old polar bear on the last bit of ice picture is always a good one to pull at the heart and purse strings. This photo is out of the top draw.
  
  . [...]

  Posted: November 21, 2007, 4:48am EST

• Fisheries: Fish Dumping "immoral" and FISH FACTS

  As my Econ211 students "should" be in the middle of writing about fisheries as there term essay this news item is well timed.
  
  The BBC have done a good job of covering the main issues. What is required is careful thought about the "economics" of the current quota system [...]

  Posted: November 20, 2007, 9:06am EST

• Japan and the Humpback whale round-up

  
  In this blog we have tracked the behaviour of whaling activities and the political maneuverings of the pro-whaling countries (primarily Norway Iceland and Japan) and the huge amount of money spent on lobbying landlocked countries for support (see sidebar).
  
  In every case the economic [...]

  Posted: November 19, 2007, 5:03am EST

• IPCC Draft Report 16/11/2007: "climate change is unequivocal"

  The IPCC released its summary for Policymakers of the Synthesis Report of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report on the 16th November 2007.
  
  The report can be downloaded below:
  
  Summary for Policymakers of the Synthesis Report of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report [Large PDF]
  
  The summary has [...]

  Posted: November 17, 2007, 7:59am EST

• Recycling gone too far? Used condoms

  In a follow up to our detailed study of the economics of recycling yesterday comes news that China is taking recycling to new heights (or is it depths).
  
  The concept of recycling used condoms to wear as hair bands may not appeal but remember that someone has the job [...]

  Posted: November 15, 2007, 4:27am EST

• Reseach Paper: "Review of Environmental, Economic and Policy Aspects of Biofuels"

  By reading this article, in theory, you can cut your desire to read 101 newspaper articles or blog posts on this issue, the majority of which will fall down on the economics.
  
  I am sceptical about the whole biofuel business - this article discusses a wide range of issues [...]

  Posted: November 14, 2007, 3:54pm EST

• All you want to know about "Recycling"

  The Economist does recycling.
  
  The truth about recycling [Economist]
  

  As the importance of recycling becomes more apparent, questions about it linger. Is it worth the effort? How does it work? Is recycling waste just going into a landfill in China? Here are some answers

  
  The conclusion:
  

  If [...]

  Posted: November 14, 2007, 3:50pm EST

• "Coase Theorem" without the environment

  Joshua Gans at CoreEcon comments on a post by Levitt over at Freakonomics.
  
  Both blog posts are worth reading. Undergraduates taking environmental economics courses (especially mine) should think carefully about these posts as they provide a interesting perspective of Coase at work (or not at work).
  [...]

  Posted: November 14, 2007, 5:32am EST

• Econ101 in 1 minute

  In case anyone missed it.
  
  First year economics in 1 minute. Excellent.
  
  
  
  . [...]

  Posted: November 13, 2007, 11:56am EST

• Rhinos, antelopes and externalities

  A good example of unintended consequences hinged with some tragedy of the commons. Given we covered the economics of extinction in today's "Environmental economics" lecture the timing of this news article is propitious.
  
  There is something depressingly inevitable about the Rhino protection plan from the very start. Where were [...]

  Posted: November 13, 2007, 9:41am EST

• Another Chinese environmental horror story

  Hardly a day goes by without one of the British broadsheets doing the old "in depth" article on the state of tne environment in China. They are worse than second rate bloggers (like this one) for recycling stories.
  
  In fact this is just a rehash of the Elizabeth Economy [...]

  Posted: November 12, 2007, 11:42am EST

• "Encroaching Desert, Hidden Water"

  Headline of the week award goes to the Independent for this desertification article (even if I changed "missing" to "hidden" in my title).
  
  This is a good article and is littered with examples of X watched as his farm disappeared and Y looked on as the lake dried up. [...]

  Posted: November 09, 2007, 2:54pm EST

• Top 200 Universities: Birmingham 65

  The THES this week released a ranking of the top 200 Universities.
  
  The UK has 20 in the top 100 with the University of Birmingham moving up from 90 to a creditable 65. At the top are Cambridge (2) and Oxford (3). The rankings are dominated by US and [...]

  Posted: November 09, 2007, 7:50am EST

• Brookings: "Economic Approaches to Reforming Energy and Protecting the Environment"

  An excellent event and it is good to see Brookings getting involved in climate change via the Hamilton Project.
  
  The event was to discuss how best to promote market mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gases. An excellent agenda and bringing into focus the different approaches between government regulation and private [...]

  Posted: November 08, 2007, 12:20pm EST

• China and India to suffer water shortages due to biofuel production

  Hear an interview with Charlotte de Fraiture who discusses the water shortage situations in China and India, the effects of biofuel production, and the implication for environmental and agricultural policies in these two countries.
  
  Biofuel Production Threatens Water Supplies in China and India[Scitizen.com]
  
  . [...]

  Posted: November 08, 2007, 12:11pm EST

• Vanishing Fish in South-East Asia

  Having just given a lecture on over fishing and the possible government policies (quotas, taxes, aquaculture) to address the problem it is timely that a new report has been released talking about the vanishing fish of south-east Asia.
  
  This story reinforces the "open access" problem related to the "tragedy [...]

  Posted: November 08, 2007, 11:21am EST

• Carbon Trading Markets: US to enter?

  It is interesting how US big business maintains an eye on a profit despite the behaviour of the current government. This story has "Porter-hypothesis" overtones and suggests that higher EU regulations have lead other countries to steal a march on the US by being ahead in the Carbon Trading game. [...]

  Posted: November 08, 2007, 10:59am EST

• Regulating Global Trade and the Environment

  New book of interest:
  
  Regulating Global Trade and the Environment
  
  Author(s) - Paul Street
  
  Series: Routledge Studies in International Business and the World Econom
  
  Summary
  
  Examining the roles of international institutions, multinational corporations and other transnational players in framing the trade and environment [...]

  Posted: November 08, 2007, 10:46am EST

• Are geoengineers taking the p*** in the Pacific?

  Although typically an end of the week type post this article serves to show how regulatory loopholes can be exploited.
  
  Is this a good or a bad idea?
  
  You do have to wonder how sites get selected for such geoengineering experiments.
  
  Absorbing CO2 by Dumping [...]

  Posted: November 06, 2007, 8:12am EST

• China Blames Warming for Growing Water Shortages

  An obvious headline and again raises the "global warming against rainfall" question.
  
  This is shown most clearly by the following quote:
  
  

  "The changes have led to a combination of both frequent drought and flooding," the China Daily newspaper quoted Chen as saying.

  
  
  However, clearly water shortages in [...]

  Posted: November 06, 2007, 4:29am EST

• Climate Wars

  Always good to get Mondays off to a suitably gloomy start even if it is a subject of direct economic relevance.
  
  Behind any war there is usually some serious economics lurking and "climate wars" will be no different. The issues raised in this article have all been covered [...]

  Posted: November 05, 2007, 4:47am EST

• A map of UFO hotspots in the US

  It must be Friday.
  
  Here is a map of UFO sightings in the US. Whilst, the environmental angle is admittedly rather weak, I reckon I can pin this on "globalisation" and at least "new economic geography".
  
  For example, is there a correlation between income and UFO sightings? Some [...]

  Posted: November 02, 2007, 6:39pm EDT

• Forests as carbon sinks failing?

  The Independent today reports on a Nature article that suggests that forests might be losing their ability to absorb man-made carbon (why this should differ to non-man made carbon I do not know).
  
  This is interesting as it provides a further insight into the complex feedback mechanisms at work [...]

  Posted: November 01, 2007, 11:30am EDT

• Man V Mussels

  In a follow up to our post:
  
  Arguments over Droughts, Dams and Water Shortages: Kicking off in the US
  
  where I suggested that the trade off between the wildlife and drinking water for citizens may leave a few fish short of somewhere to live has taken the [...]

  Posted: November 01, 2007, 11:16am EDT

• Subsidies, Special Interests and Biofuels: Wolf speaks

  Martin Wolf of the FT writes an excellent article on the farce that is the Biofuel industry. The economics of biofuels is complex and it is my no means clear that Biofuels offer a golden bullet on climate change - far from it as Martin Wolf points out.
  
  The [...]

  Posted: November 01, 2007, 11:00am EDT

• Economists' Voice on "Global Climate Change"

  A special issue on global climate change has jsut been released from Economists' Voice.
  
  When economists such as Arrow and Stiglitz wade into a discussion it is worth listening.
  
  Each paper can be downloaded if you register as a "guest".
  
  Contents page is here:
  
  [...]

  Posted: November 01, 2007, 7:42am EDT

• Arguments over Droughts, Dams and Water Shortages: Kicking off in the US

  When economists talk about global warming and the potential for it to cause widespread conflict, wars and the migration of millions of "environmental refugees" they usually have the developing world in mind.
  
  It is interesting therefore to see how the current US drought is playing out politically.
  
  Environmentally, [...]

  Posted: October 31, 2007, 9:01am EDT

• Toilet Paper, the German Army and surveillance cameras

  In a recycling related post comes news that each German soldier appears to get though 10 rolls of toilet paper A DAY. After a close investigation this was later reduced to 8.8 sheets per soldier per day.
  
  The question on the lips of people everywhere is "where did the [...]

  Posted: October 31, 2007, 7:40am EDT

• Ecuador, non-renewables and Coase

  In a post that covers pretty much the entire environmental economics course in one way or other, Ecuador has suggested that the developed world pay it $350 million a year not to pump any more crude oil, thereby avoiding further pollution of its eastern rainforest.
  
  Is this a Coasian [...]

  Posted: October 29, 2007, 4:40pm EDT

• The future of economics blogging

  An interesting debate on the sustainability of econ-blogging is taking place amongst the big boys, Mankiw and Rodrik. Mankiw has been around for a long time but some of the more recent blogs include Dani Rodrik, Paul Krugman, George Borjas, Becker-Posner, Levitt and others.
  
  [...]

  Posted: October 29, 2007, 4:05pm EDT

• The Environmental Performance of Firms

  NEP: New Economics Papers Environmental Economics list the following paper in their new releases now forthcoming in Ecological Economics.
  
  Getting environment and labour data for a country such as Ghana required some serious leg work but inevitably the quality of data prevented us getting a better grip on this [...]

  Posted: October 29, 2007, 5:07am EDT

• Geo-4 "Global Environmental Outlook" - Bleak for Mankind

  UNEP have just released their "Global Environmental Outlook". Generally speaking humanity remains at risk from climate change, food shortages and a collapse in biodiversity. In short, things are looking rather bleak.
  
  There is a lot of interesting material to wade through.
  
  This post has gone multimedia with [...]

  Posted: October 28, 2007, 5:22am EDT

• UNCTAD launch "Ideas 4 Development"

  UNCTAD launch "Ideas 4 Development" blog. An all star blog on development economic issues on a blog with a poor name. Surely they could have come up with something better or at least without a number in the middle of it.
  
  

  “Ideas for Development” is an international Blog meant [...]

  Posted: October 27, 2007, 11:35am EDT

• Can Coasean Bargaining Justify Pigouvian Taxation?

  In my very next lecture on Econ211 Environmental Economics we come across Coase and Coasean bargainning for the first time.
  
  It is again timely that the most recent Economica journal has a paper that combines Coase with Pigouvian taxes (covered last week).
  
  Students should be able to get [...]

  Posted: October 24, 2007, 8:07am EDT

• Natural resource economics under the rule of Hotelling

  More on the Hotelling Rule ahead of this years lecture on the subject. As this is a presidential address it is more accessible than most academic papers.
  
  
  ----------------------------------
  
  Natural resource economics under the rule of Hotelling
  
  * Gérard Gaudet
  Département de sciences économiques and [...]

  Posted: October 24, 2007, 4:37am EDT

• Schwarzenegger to sue Bush over emissions

  It seems remarkable that Republican Arnie has to file a lawsuit against the US government to be able to tighten its own environmental regulations.
  
  Why are the EPA dragging their feet on this one - two years and counting.
  
  The best quote is from Jerry Brown hinting at [...]

  Posted: October 23, 2007, 4:34am EDT

• File sharing, copying and kids

  This following post has nothing to do with the environment and only a tenuous link to globalisation but it provides insights on many levels not least how academics are going to have to keep the plagiarism software up to date for future generations.
  
  It is hard to fault the [...]

  Posted: October 22, 2007, 3:54pm EDT

• Bubbles in Prices of Exhaustible Resources

  In Econ211 Environmental Economics we will soon be covering the Hotelling (1931) Rule.
  
  This paper takes it on to look at bubble equilibria. With many non-renewable resource prices at record highs this is a timely paper.
  
  -------------------------------------------------
  
  Bubbles in Prices of Exhaustible Resources
  
  BOYAN JOVANOVIC
  New [...]

  Posted: October 22, 2007, 5:09am EDT

• New Term Watch: "Resilience Economics"

  This post builds on yesterday's mention of "Resilience Science" who today, coincidentally posted on something called "Resilience Economics".
  
  It certainly sounds good and it appears that some well respected environmental economists are working in this area. IMHO I think this is an area of research to watch.
  
  I [...]

  Posted: October 21, 2007, 3:57pm EDT

• The Resilience Science weblog

  We have added another blog to our growing blogroll. Whilst not economics, it touches on a number of the same issues are gives a little more "science" linked to the Resilience Alliance "a multidisciplinary research group that explores the dynamics of complex adaptive systems."
  
  They define the [...]

  Posted: October 20, 2007, 6:04am EDT

• "Planet in Peril": CNN's latest investigation

  CNN in their "planet in peril" press release show how easy it is to get us to cover an environmental economics related topic:
  

  Dear Dr. Robert J. R. Elliott, As the author of leading environmental blog 'globalisation and the environment', I thought you may be interested in CNN’s upcoming [...]

  Posted: October 19, 2007, 8:50am EDT

• Free trade

  It must be Friday.
  
  For the pixelly challenged the racial stereo types on the right are "US argi-business" and "European farmers" - the latter is the one wearing the beret while the former has a fine stetson a top his head. The anti-globalisation protester being beaten by the law [...]

  Posted: October 19, 2007, 8:08am EDT

• Zoellick: Development - Environment trade off

  An underlying theme of this blog is the trade off between development economics on the one hand and environmental economics on the other. We could not agree more with the following quote:
  

  "This is all about integrating climate change economics with development economics," Mr Zoellick said. "They are not separate."

  
  [...]

  Posted: October 18, 2007, 10:06am EDT

• EU to help pay to clean up Chinese rivers

  It is always good news when we see cross country cooperation to help clean up the environment.
  
  However, there is always something slightly odd about the EU helping pay to clean up China's polluted rivers when at the same time China is sitting on a huge pile of foreign [...]

  Posted: October 18, 2007, 9:52am EDT

• Krugman, Rodrik and Johnson blogs

  I have eventually got round to adding 3 (relatively) new blogs to the blogroll of "globalisation and the environment".
  
  Dani Rodrik's blog
  

  Unconventional thoughts on economic development and globalization

  
  Paul Krugman's blog
  
  and finally,
  
  Simon Johnson's blog
  

  Simon Johnson's blog offers comments about economic [...]

  Posted: October 18, 2007, 9:29am EDT

• "Debt-for-nature"

  The concept of "debt-for-nature" is one of those ideas that seems so simple, logical and intrinsically "correct" that you wonder why it has not been around for years.
  
  The has long been a "cancel the debt" movement to help developing countries escape the burden of paying back the money [...]

  Posted: October 17, 2007, 4:23pm EDT

• Top Environmental Blogs

  This is a useful list - the Top 35 Environmental blogs.
  
  There are no real surprises and most are covered in the links in the sidebar. Too many wishywashy sites for my liking and not enough meaty analysis.
  
  The shock of course is that Globalisation and the [...]

  Posted: October 16, 2007, 7:59am EDT

• Environmental Tax on Polluters in China

  In tomorrow undergraduate Environmental Economics lecture we will cover pollution taxes.
  
  It is timely therefore that China are now considering the implementation of a pollution tax on polluters.
  
  The question is how do they know at what rate set the tax - what in other words is [...]

  Posted: October 15, 2007, 6:22pm EDT

• Weekend Environmental Pictures of the Week

  It is always a pleasure to find a photograph that encapsulates two environmental themes in one neat shot.
  
  Trees and bikes are this weeks combination:
  
  
  
  Finally, given this weekends comments from Alan Johnson (Secretary of State for Health) that "obesity is as [...]

  Posted: October 14, 2007, 5:41pm EDT

• Left-side or right side of the brain?

  As it is the weekend:
  
  I admit that this TEST has got me completely stumped. I can only get the dancer to go clockwise. Unless I am confusing clockwise with anti-clockwise (where is that link again).
  
  Economists should really see it going anti-clockwise (like most people apparently).
  [...]

  Posted: October 14, 2007, 5:20am EDT

• Al "9 errors" Gore - the "Climate Change General"

  
  I am as pleased as the next man that big Al was won the "Nobel Peace Prize".
  
  In previous years it has certainly been won by those less deserving.
  
  However, we have covered "the inconvenient truth" and the rigmarole surrounding it [...]

  Posted: October 12, 2007, 3:15pm EDT

• Gore wins NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

  Breaking news:
  
  The immediate link to "peace" is not obvious although it is correct to say that issues related to climate change will undoubtedly lead to armed conflict in the future whether it is water, resources or refugee related.
  
  Gore and UN panel win Nobel prize
  

  
  [...]

  Posted: October 12, 2007, 6:28am EDT

• Robot Insect Spies

  Surely an environmental blog is the right place to include a post about insects right?
  
  Perhaps if they are robot spy insects it is even more appropriate. I have put this under the "other label". I can't work out whether this is "cool" or "dangerous/scary"?
  
  [...]

  Posted: October 10, 2007, 8:45am EDT

• PUBLIC LECTURE: "Climate Change: Why it is so tough to tackle"

  For anyone living in or around Birmingham, UK, Frances Caincross will be giving a public lecture at the Birmingham Scinece Museum on the 25th October. See announcement below.
  
  ---------------------
  
  Prestige Lecture
  
  British Association for the Advancement of Science - West Midlands Branch
  
  Climate change: Why it's [...]

  Posted: October 10, 2007, 8:22am EDT

• 455 parts per million of carbon dioxide equivalent is HERE

  Have we gone past the point of no return already?
  
  Have been tipped over the tipping point?
  
  Are we irreversabley doomed to die in a rapidly heating world?
  
  Today's news from the Austrailian scientist Tim Flannery suggests we have.
  
  The fact we have reached the magic [...]

  Posted: October 10, 2007, 4:33am EDT

• Is peer review in decline?

  The standard method for judging the "quality" of an academic is via the peer review system in academic journals.
  
  In a recent paper Glen Ellison notes a decline in the the papers written by economists from the highest ranked Universities in the highest ranked journals.
  
  Ellison blames the [...]

  Posted: October 10, 2007, 4:25am EDT

• "Plants just go nuts": Desertification the facts.

  When one talks about "global warming", the encroachment of deserts and the feeling that one day all that will be left will be desert with the occasional overcrowded watering hole in pervasive.
  
  Of interest is whether "desertification" represents a "tipping point" scenario. Once land become "desertified" (if that is [...]

  Posted: October 08, 2007, 7:16pm EDT

• New phrase watch: "Mega-Greenhouse Effect"

  Always on look out for the amusing, inventive and profession changing terms, the release of a working paper with the title:
  
  The Economics of the Mega-Greenhouse Effect: A Conceptual Framework
  
  brings us the phrase "Mega-greenhouse effect".
  
  Read below to find out what a mega-greenhouse effect actually is.
  [...]

  Posted: October 08, 2007, 6:21am EDT

• Regulations vrs profits

  In today's news we see another illustration of the ongoing battle between governments, who want to introduce environmental regualtions to ensure cleaner air, less greenhouse gas emmissions and an altogther nicer environment to live in and the polluters who want to maxmisise profits.
  
  This is not a post about [...]

  Posted: October 08, 2007, 6:06am EDT

• Economics of the Environment in China update

  Two articles of note from China Economics Blog.
  
  A Green Awakening in Red China
  
  Green Economics in Red China [Washington Post]
  
  Both articles draw on material from a long post we wrote here on E. Economy's piece on environmental degradation in China.
  
  [...]

  Posted: October 08, 2007, 5:05am EDT

• Economists wanted at Resources for the Future

  Just in case some wondering/wandering environmental economics stumble across this blog here are a couple of interesting jobs at Resources for the Future.
  
  -----------------
  
  RESOURCES FOR THE FUTURE (RFF)
  
  RFF Sr. Fellow (leadership)
  
  Q0 Natural Resource & Environmental Economics
  D0 Applied Microeconomics
  [...]

  Posted: October 05, 2007, 4:45am EDT

• Indonesia to Plant 79 Mln Trees in One Day

  Whilst forest fires and deforestation are now accepted as part and parcel of the destruction of global forest cover it is always a pleasure to be able to post a "good news" story (even if it goes again the dismal scientist mentality).
  
  However, one does have to question whether [...]

  Posted: October 05, 2007, 4:03am EDT

• Is free trade bad for the US?

  Anyone who has studied international economics at even the most basic level should be thinking "what a pointless question to ask" - obviously free trade is good for the economy (although of course there will be some losers who can theoretically be compensated by the winners). Think Ricardo, think Heckscher, [...]

  Posted: October 04, 2007, 3:40pm EDT

• "Does Pollution Increase School Absences?"

  I would like to test this to see whether pollution affects undergraduate lecture attendance.
  
  ----------------------
  
  "Does Pollution Increase School Absences?"
  NBER Working Paper No. W13252
  
  Contact: JANET CURRIE
  Columbia University - Department of Economics,
  University of California, Los Angeles - Department
  [...]

  Posted: October 04, 2007, 10:58am EDT

• Econ211 Environmental Economics Textbooks

  This week we started teaching Econ211A Environmental Economics. The course is for second year undergraduates and it is recommended that students have studied an introductory economics course in their first year.
  
  The library will have copies of all these books. The only one we believe is worth buying is [...]

  Posted: October 04, 2007, 6:48am EDT

• "Fashion": a victim of climate change

  As if things could not get any worse, we hear the news that the fashion industry may be suffering from the impact of climate change. H/T: Gristmill.
  

  The whole fashion system will have to change," says Beppe Modenese, called the founding father of Milan Fashion Week. "[It] must adapt to [...]

  Posted: October 03, 2007, 11:48am EDT

• "Adopt the Sky" - US citizens protest and are entertained

  With propitious timing following the previous post, our inbox contained a press release from Earthjustice highlighting a new website called "adoptthesky" that allows concerned citizens to adopt of piece of the sky above the US to protest against the George Bush and the EPA poor performance on air pollution.
  [...]

  Posted: October 03, 2007, 3:42am EDT

• Bush's EPA leaving polluters alone

  Interesting Washington Post article. I am more used to posting this sort of article with reference to China. It makes for a disappointing read.
  
  The question is why? Surely it cannot be the old "lobby group" story again.
  
  This is a long 3 page article. I have only [...]

  Posted: October 02, 2007, 5:05pm EDT

• Volker Hauff of Brundtland Commission fame talks

  I begin teaching Environmental Economics tomorrow - in lecture 1 we touch on the Brundtland Commission (twenty years ago) and the beginning of "sustainable development".
  
  It is timely to therefore highlight an interview that ChinaDialogue recently conducted with Volker Hauff.
  
  "We have to go first"
  
  

  Twenty [...]

  Posted: October 01, 2007, 4:11pm EDT

• China's Carbon Trading Market

  Carbon trading is something I am uncomfortable with. Does paying China to pollute make sense? Some answers can be found below in this nice little introduction that explains the basics. Convinced?
  
  This is an interesting article on Carbon trading from a traders perspective. Chinadialogue is a consistently good site [...]

  Posted: October 01, 2007, 3:52pm EDT

• More "Megafires" or "climatic tsunamis" to come?

  An article that brings us two new "global warming" related word is the popularisation of the term "megafire" and the closely related "climatic tsunamis". As temperatures rise the prevalence of such events will increase.
  
  This also allows me to post a great picture. The animal in the foreground must [...]

  Posted: September 30, 2007, 2:50pm EDT

• "Ethnolomics" is born

  Always one to jump on a bandwagon I thought the very title of this paper meant it was worthy of a blog post.
  
  Adding "-omics" to the end of a word is tried and tested. Freak-onomics is a prime example.
  
  "Ethanolomics" is a bit of a mouthfull but [...]

  Posted: September 28, 2007, 6:28am EDT

• Arctic National Park and OIL: An Economic Perspective

  We have all seen pictures of cuddly polar bears getting thinner and we are used to stories of evil oil companies destroying the environment.
  
  In this recent NBER paper a couple of economists tackle the question of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
  
  The conclusion - [...]

  Posted: September 27, 2007, 9:33am EDT

• "Extreme Weather Events, Mortality and Migration"

  In my opinion there is plenty more work to be done in this area. Some interesting results are provided in this NBER paper by Deshenes and Moretti.
  
  
  "Extreme Weather Events, Mortality and Migration"
  NBER Working Paper No. W13227
  
  
  Author: OLIVIER DESCHENES
  University [...]

  Posted: September 27, 2007, 8:48am EDT

• Transport graveyards

  A fascinating series of pictures of the graveyards of planes, trains and automobiles.
  
  This post also demonstrates the power of google earth.
  
  Where vehicles are left to die
  
  [...]

  Posted: September 26, 2007, 2:57pm EDT

• Climate Change and Industrial Restructuring

  I am skeptical that concerns over climate change are leading to widespread industrial restructuring but here are the results from a "investor survey". Not particularly convincin but does shed some light on the behavior of large multnationals (a topic we are interested in researching).
  
  Climate Change Spurs Industry [...]

  Posted: September 25, 2007, 4:55am EDT

• Lehman Brothers on the "Business of Climate Change"

  Two excellent reports. PDFs for both reports can be found below.
  
  The business of climate change.
  
  For a summary see a recent Grist post.
  
  Must-read climate report from Lehman Brothers
  
  . [...]

  Posted: September 24, 2007, 7:05pm EDT

• Bush makes dinner but skips the bit about the future of the planet

  In a move I am sure all academics at conferences are familiar with, George Bush has announced that he will skip the UN global warming talks but still make it for dinner in the evening.
  
  Bush to Skip U.N. Talks on Global Warming [New York Times]
  
  

  WASHINGTON, [...]

  Posted: September 24, 2007, 6:48pm EDT

• Global Warming in Pictures I

  Nothing to do with global warming really but a good image nonetheless.
  
  
  
  Still interesting to know how this ship actually got to be in the middle of the desert.
  
  Link. [...]

  Posted: September 23, 2007, 2:37pm EDT

• A Map of Russia's Third Empire

  This is a pure globalisation link but it provides an interesting map of the world in 2053 through the eyes of a Russian businessman.
  
  If you live in Europe I suggest taking Russian at nightschool. I like this sort of thing although I am not sure why.
  
  [...]

  Posted: September 22, 2007, 1:02pm EDT

• Thomas L. Friedman does "Global Warming" and "China"

  Friedman of "flat earth" fame - in my opinion a must read book for all economists and western politicians - has weighed into the global warming debate on touches on a lot of the issues we cover here relating to developing countries attitudes to global warming etc.
  
  This article [...]

  Posted: September 21, 2007, 5:57pm EDT

• Freakonomics does "global warming"

  A useful article asking "experts" for their answers to the two-part question:
  
  "What should the U.S. government be doing about global warming, and what should individuals be doing?"
  
  What Should We Really Be Doing About Global Warming? A Freakonomics Quorum
  
  This is what Jason Pontin, editor [...]

  Posted: September 21, 2007, 5:43pm EDT

• Global Warming - now the "Woolly Mammouth" gets the blame

  Global warming has been blamed on many things - cows get a lot of flak as well as the SUV drivers and the coal fired power stations.
  
  Being extinct for thousands of years does not however get you off the hook.
  
  Today we got news that mammouth dung [...]

  Posted: September 21, 2007, 4:30am EDT

• Personal Carbon Trading: Impossible Dream?

  Today's Guardian has a story about the first public trading demonstration in personal carbon credits - the idea that everyone is given a personal carbon allowance after which you can buy and sell credit.
  
  The market price would of course be set by the invisible hand (supply and demand) [...]

  Posted: September 21, 2007, 4:07am EDT

• How might climate change affect growth in developing countries?

  The title of this post in an important one especially for the millions of people living below the poverty line that reside in a developing country.
  
  This quote is the pertinent one:
  
  

  The paper finds that although the growth literature rarely addresses climate change per se, some issues [...]

  Posted: September 20, 2007, 3:15pm EDT

• Novel Peace Prize: What is the link between peace and the environment?

  After a few days in the less polluted city of Athens (compared to my last visit 15 years ago) it was interesting to read that there is a chance that the Nobel Peace prize worth around $1.5m could go to a climate change activist.
  
  The question that needs to [...]

  Posted: September 20, 2007, 6:13am EDT

• Conservation crisis

  From the inbox:
  
  Interesting article looking at the increase in the number of "at risk" species. There are problems with such calculations given we do not know how many species we actally have on the planet.
  
  From an economics perspective it becomes more interesting when we try to [...]

  Posted: September 14, 2007, 4:55am EDT

• Netherlands take the "long view"

  Amusing little piece even if it is about life and death.
  
  When we covered the Stern review in depth looking at the economics of climate change things began to get fuzzy the further into the future you took the predictions.
  
  The Netherlands are taking no chances and when [...]

  Posted: September 11, 2007, 3:34pm EDT

• Becker-Posner debate Chinese Pollution

  It is encouraging to see that two of the heavy weights of Economics blogging have deemed it interesting enough to post on Chinese pollution levels. They touch on an issue we have been highlighting on this blog since its inception.
  
  China is in many respects the front line issue [...]

  Posted: September 11, 2007, 3:04pm EDT

• Greens and Population: How many is too many?

  The environmental movement always treads very carefully around the topic of population growth and migration patterns.
  
  An interesting article by Madeleine Bunting in the Guardian discusses the green issue that dares not speak it name. This makes for a good read.
  
  Greens need to grasp the nettle: [...]

  Posted: September 11, 2007, 6:31am EDT

• Post docs in environmental economics

  Always happy to help PhD students get placed:
  
  JOB VACANCY
  
  A research academic, with a PhD in economics or equivalent, is sought for
  2-3 years, starting early 2008, for a project on the economics of controlling greenhouse emissions, especially CO2 from fossil fuel burning, at the Fenner School [...]

  Posted: September 10, 2007, 10:01am EDT

• "Carbon Offsetting": Questions and Answers

  Given the popularity of "carbon offsetting" of which I remain distinctly unimpressed and unconvinced despite its prominent media standing I thought it would be useful to include here the recent Guardian Q&A article.
  
  The article attempts to debunk some of the myths which is does to a certain extent. [...]

  Posted: September 08, 2007, 9:54am EDT

• Reforestation and blood suckers? Leeches invade Japan

  
  Whilst a little short on economics for some reason any news story that involves blood sucking beasts of one kind of another is hard to pass over.
  
  The economic angle is that reforestation (a good thing) and rural-urban migration have environmental side affects and [...]

  Posted: September 07, 2007, 5:20am EDT

• WTO trade and the environment ruling: Brazil and Tyres

  From the inbox:
  
  Interesting article in Insight from the American Society of International Law.
  
  This once again begs the question: "Are environmental regulations being used as a secondary trade barrier?"
  
  The academic economic literature suggests that it is. The rights and wrongs of such policies [...]

  Posted: September 07, 2007, 5:11am EDT

• BBC see "climate change" as too hot to handle

  
  As part of "Martin Durkin" watch we bring you news that the BBC has decided to drop plans for a one day special on global warming. They even had Ricky Gervais and Jonathan Ross lined up to present.
  
  The reason? The BBC do not [...]

  Posted: September 06, 2007, 8:06am EDT

• Elizabeth C. Economy on "The great leap backward?"

  We have talked at length in this blog about the environmental impact of China both within China and globally and specially the impact of environmental degradation on future growth and political stability. This long post covers this ground and more.
  
  It is interesting to quote from China Briefing [...]

  Posted: September 05, 2007, 5:59pm EDT

• Research papers: Climate change in Africa

  In recent months there has been a proliferation of papers examining the effect of climate change on the decisions of African farmers (using a unique and extensive new dataset).
  
  Our very own David Maddison is involved in two such offerings and in the spirit of self publicity here are [...]

  Posted: September 05, 2007, 6:50am EDT

• Cheap Environmental Talk in China

  Environmental round-up.
  
  Sometimes the daily environmental news throws up some interesting juxtapositions. From today's PlanetArk.
  
  China Vows to Clean up Toxins Amid Food Scares
  
  with the next story being:
  
  Chemical Leak in China Sends 158 to Hospital
  
  with the previous story being:
  
  [...]

  Posted: September 04, 2007, 4:31am EDT

• APEC talks: Trade and the Environment

  It is good to see that climate change and trade and now being considered simultaneously. In the 5 years since we started our research projects looking at the relationship between the forces of globalisation and the subsequent effect on the environment in developed and developing countries the public and political [...]

  Posted: September 04, 2007, 4:09am EDT