Climate Change

Archive for Climate Change

A Perspective In Which Carbon Emissions Are Not a “Bad”

In his presentation at IER’s Carbon Tax conference earlier this year, Ken Green argued that it was a misnomer to refer to “taxing bads” in this context, because (given our current technology and infrastructure) carbon emissions are an unavoidable feature of our economy. Here at Free Advice, we got into an argument over this rhetorical […]

Is a Bank Robbery Merely a Negative Externality?

In another post, we are getting bogged down in the comments over whether there is a meaningful sense in which an alleged negative externality–such as emitting CO2–isn’t really a “bad,” even though it has negative implications. The standard claim in the climate policy debates is that taxing CO2 is penalizing a “bad,” while taxing work […]

Ken Green Changes His Mind on a Carbon Tax

This was the 3rd presentation at IER’s Carbon Tax conference earlier this year. Here’s the original blog post, but below I reproduce my highlights: 2:00 – 4:00 Green explains that in 2007 he and his colleagues looked at the impact of a $15/ton carbon tax. They thought it would be a better policy than cap-and-trade, […]

Potpourri

==> Oh my gosh, a peer-reviewed publication cited my doctoral dissertation. I am still in shock. Topan and Paun–like me–think Mises makes an invalid argument to establish the apodictic preference for satisfaction sooner rather than later. Jeff Herbener responds. ==> This guy literally lives in the NYU library. ==> Pat Michaels and Chip Knappenberger show […]

Nordhaus Not Even Warm in His Energy Sector Predictions

An excerpt from my latest IER post: Nordhaus’ terrible predictions about the energy sector in his 1973 paper have serious implications for present policy. William Nordhaus’ DICE model is one of three Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) that the Obama Administration’s Working Group selected to estimate the “social cost of carbon.” This value in turn is […]

Krugman: Failed Apocalyptic Predictions Are Laughable, Unless They Support Bigger Government

Not his exact words, mind you. Krugman in his November 7 review of William Nordhaus’ new book on climate change economics: Forty years ago a brilliant young Yale economist named William Nordhaus published a landmark paper, “The Allocation of Energy Resources,” that opened new frontiers in economic analysis…. For if one looks back at “The […]

Ross McKitrick Explains Why There Probably Is NOT a “Double Dividend” With Carbon Tax

I rarely get down and beg, but if you are a serious student of the economics of climate change debate, I implore you to watch Ross McKitrick’s presentation from IER’s carbon tax conference over the summer. I’m embedding the video and then adding my commentary, but for more context go read my post at IER. […]

Potpourri

==> In Noah Smith’s absence, he has a claque of lesser men (and women) blogging at his site. This guy, Peter Dorman, not only failed to acknowledge The Great Debt Debate of 2012 in his initial post, but he dismissed Nick Rowe’s futile attempts to educate him in the comments. (Oh, notice Gene Callahan et […]