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Let me start with a quick recap of the whole externality deal, in bullet-point form:
Externalities are side effects in a market, i.e. costs and benefits that accrue to people who neither produce or consume a product. For example, pollution is an externality because I am affected by pollution from factories even when I neither [...]
Tags: Econ 101 · Environmental Econ
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the “but the oil spill is creating jobs” line is being trotted out in political circles, since this is often where economic and political realities come together to crash and burn in an intellectual blaze of glory. Here’s the reality: everyone in this debate is both [...]
Tags: Econ 101 · Environmental Econ · Macroeconomics
Let me get the typical reactions to the BP mess out of the way first: RAWR! Oil everywhere! RAWR! Pelicans! RAWR! Should have been more careful! RAWR! Who would have thought that giant oil funnels were not a good idea? RAWR! Maybe Kevin Costner can [...]
Tags: Econ 101 · Environmental Econ
The guys over at Environmental Economics are becoming two of my favorite economists…which is interesting since I’ve never been particularly into the whole environmental thing. I obviously understand that it’s important to save some whales and panthers and polar bears and whatnot (yup, all cute animal examples), it’s just not what I study. [...]
Tags: Econ 101 · Environmental Econ · Policy
We’ve been hearing a lot on the news recently about this idea of cap and trade. Democrats want it, Republicans hate it, yada yada yada. We hear an endless number of views on the various strategies to reduce pollution, but does anyone bother to actually explain how the different strategies work? Of [...]
Tags: Econ 101 · Environmental Econ · Policy · Videos
