Happy Festivus everyone. Wer'e going to skip the formality of the Festivus Pole and Festivus Dinner and jump straight to the Airing of the Grievances. Here are the ground rules from Wikipedia:
The celebration of Festivus begins with the "Airing of Grievances", which takes place immediately after the Festivus dinner [...]
At the end of last week, I posted my own thoughts and those of Alan Randall on the fine line between a scientist's role as truth-seeker versus advocate. Over the weekend, I was doing some pleasure reading and I came across the following quote by Andre Maurois [...]
The package would rely on nearly $400 billion in new taxes, according to congressional tax analysts, including a new 10 percent tax on indoor tanning salons to be paid by the customer.
From the health care bill. I'm guessing the demand for indoor tanning is fairly elastic. If I'm [...]
Winter Storm Warning in effect from 6 PM this evening to 6 am EST Sunday... For the greater Baltimore metropolitan area through 2 PM...snow...heavy at time...will continue. Snowfall rates of one half to one inch an hour are expected. Within heavier bands of snow...snowfall rates of two inches per hour [...]
A Licking County man fatally shot his sister and a neighbor yesterday after an argument over a water well, according to the sheriff's office.
Jerome Boyd Marcum, 69, was arrested about 4:30 p.m. yesterday when he tried to shoot a third person -- his brother, who lives in Mount Vernon, authorities [...]
Guest post from Alan Randall:
Science has become the target of various attempts to undermine its authority, including litigation aiming to raise barriers to science-based regulation and a continuing campaign to politicize science and reduce scientific discourse to an ordinary cultural quarrel.
Some case law has accumulated, addressing the issue of what constitutes authoritative scientific [...]
The theft of emails and files from the computer system at one of the world’s most respected science centers was a gift for those opposed to the notion that humans are largely responsible for climate change. Selective interpretations of some messages, coupled with imprudent comments by some scientists, frustrated by [...]
And Brazilian president Luiz Lula da Silva told the joint session of negotiators how frustrated he was that the job was left to heads of state after talks ran into the wee hours Friday.
"I am not sure if such an angel or wise man will come down to this plenary [...]
An animal protection group asked a federal judge Wednesday to block a plan to round up about 2,500 wild horses to remove them from a Nevada range...
The roundup is part of the Bureau of Land Management's overall strategy to remove thousands of mustangs from public lands across the West to [...]
From the inbox:
The Ohio State University Columbus campus experienced a power outage when construction crews accidentally severed a power line late Wednesday (12/16) afternoon. Twenty six buildings on the north side of campus were affected. These buildings are expected to be out of power for at least 24 hours as [...]
Fed Chair Ben Bernanke has been named Time's Person of the Year
As the terrifying memories of free-falling markets fade, Bernanke has become a political victim of his apolitical success. His boldness in the crisis feels like yesterday's news. But if he's adopting a less aggressive approach to guiding a weak economy around [...]
China and the U.S. are apparently in a staring contest in Copenhagen over monitoring and enforcement of any agreement for CO2 reductions. China is refusing to allow international monitoring as a matter of principle:
He Yafei*, the Chinese vice foreign minister, said China’s laws would guarantee compliance.
“This is a matter [...]
"It's not fair," Mr. He** said. "Whoever created this problem, they're responsible," he said. Although he said the European Union had largely lived up to its emission-reduction promises, he singled out the U.S. several times by name as a country that hadn't done its share.
via online.wsj.com
Simple economics says the [...]
The Basic Economics of Carbon Permits Versus Carbon Taxes
Some interesting takes on social norms in the second half.
[...]Relative to my graduate school classmates at a certain mid-Western school, I was pretty cool. I challenge other economists to start posting some photos of their past to their blogs. History should not be left to the historians.
Ok, here's my entry.* See John, there was someone freakishly [...]
Krugman on the venom with which anti-climate changers react:
So they’re outraged, furious, at the notion that they have to listen to guys who talk in big words rather than sports metaphors**.
Hold on a second...we have a sports category for posts and have to look up words our readers put [...]
“This is the question that is being posed in Copenhagen,” said Robert N. Stavins, director of the environmental economics program at Harvard University. “How much money do the developed countries have to put on the table to bring [...]
Alex Tabarrok (that's not Alex to the right...that's Taylor Lautner) at Marginal Revolution argues that on-line education may fundamentally change the market for teaching in higher education:
I have argued that universities will move to a superstar market for teachers in which [...]
I'd like to go point-by-point*, but suffice it to say: decent explanation of Cap and Trade up until 3:02...after that, a mixed-up tree-hugging criticism of markets using Cap and Trade as a strawman.
*UPDATE: Reader Kira points us to this point-by-point rebuttal of the video. My opinion of the rebuttal--nice [...]"Farmers were reluctant when fertilizer was first proposed ... or seed technology ... but they embraced the technology, and the result is agriculture production that is the envy of the world," [U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom] Vilsack said. "I understand the concern in farm country, but if [Cap [...]
UPDATE: Congratulations Old Mill Patriots! 2009 Maryland Class 4A High School Football State Champions.
Place: M&T Bank Stadium (Home of the Baltimore Ravens)
Time: 7:30 PM
Event: Maryland Division 4A State Football Championship: Old Mill Senior High School vs. Wise High School
Why: I'm a 1987 graduate [...]
An attempt to save on heating costs has gone spectacularly wrong for five central Ohio suburbs. Natural-gas users in a consortium formed by Bexley, Dublin, Gahanna, Grandview Heights and Upper Arlington will be paying more than twice as much this month [...]
Cause: New energy efficiency requirements for power companies
Effect 1:
Consumers went crazy in October when they learned what their power company, Akron-based FirstEnergy, planned to distribute energy-efficient light bulbs. The company proposed automatically mailing the bulbs to every customer, then tacking a surcharge that [...]
Sometimes the only way to show how bad a policy is, is to have the market show you (from the NYTimes):
Two years ago, Congress ordered the nation’s gasoline refiners to do something that is turning out to be mathematically impossible.
To please the farm lobby and to help wean the [...]
Technologies to cut back carbon dioxide emissions from factories and vehicles that feed the global economy add costs to fuel, food and more, an option that appeals neither to industrial nations struggling with the global economic meltdown or developing nations trying to ramp up economic growth.
[...]One of the problems with energy consumption is that consumers often don't know exactly how much energy they are consuming at a given moment, or how much that consumption is costing. Typical consumers get a bill at the end of the month reporting total consumption and the total bill. But [...]
Students were occupying buildings Friday on several campuses of the University of California system in protest of a 32 percent tuition hike.
...
University officials said the $505 million to be raised by the tuition increases is needed to prevent even deeper cuts than those already made because of California's [...]
From the Columbus Dispatch:
Federal officials say the despised Asian carp may have breached an electronic barrier designed to prevent it from invading the Great Lakes and jeopardizing their $7 billion sport fishery.
Officials with the Army Corps of Engineer say Friday that DNA of the giant carp have been found [...]
John's headed to the Southern Economic Association meetings in San Antonio this weekend. Unfortunately I can't make it. At the risk of exposing her to John's typcial meeting antics, I'm sending one of my brilliant Ph.D. students, Carolina Castilla*, in my place. She'll be presenting some work we're doing on consumers' price [...]
CFC reductions are often hailed as an environmental policy success story. The reason CFC reduction policies have been so successful is Congress taxed the bejesus out of CFCs.
The Clean Air Act (Title VI) established caps on most CFC's as agreed upon under the Montreal Protocol, with a complete phase [...]
OK, I guess it's TypePad's Twitter.
[...]Testing the new quick compose feature on TypePad (I don't know what this is supposed to do).
' [...]In the latest obstacle to proposed U.S. climate legislation, key lawmakers on Thursday urged Senate Democrats to change distribution plans for carbon permits to offer more protection for coal-dependent utilities.
Isn't the point of all of this to make coal dependent utilities uncomfortable? Read on...
The lawmakers said the [...]
U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders on Sunday supported delaying a legally binding climate pact until 2010 or even later, but European negotiators said the move did not imply weaker action...
French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said it was clear the main obstacle was the United States' [...]
So I have a proposal--I'll call it a fuel efficiency payment. Here's how it works: All cars [...]
Lord Smith of Finsbury believes that implementing individual carbon allowances for every person will be the most effective way of meeting the targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
It would involve people being issued with a unique number which they would [...]
Having never had one of my own papers rejected*, I'm not sure I understand the premise behind this new journal, but Env-Econ reader Alan Dove thinks some of my "collegaues could benefit from this."
Rejecta Mathematica is an open access, online journal that publishes only papers that have been rejected from [...]
The scene: An early autumnal morning in a household in suburban Columbus. I approach the breakfast table as my family readies themselves for school.
Me--pointing at an 8-point buck walking through our suburban yard, passing within 10 feet of the window*: "Hey, look!"
My wife,two of our three kids--the youngest is still knocked out [...]
As if my wicked slice doesn't cause me enough stress, now I have this to worry about when I golf (from CNN):
Research teams at the Danish Golf Union have discovered it takes between 100 to 1,000 years for a golf ball to decompose naturally. A startling fact when it is also [...]
Last night, my kids saw the trailer for the apocalyptic movie 2012, a foretelling of the end of time based on interpretation of the Mayan calendar. They freaked out a bit--especially after I told them it is true* and I know that because the predictions are based on the Haab calendar. I even had [...]
The title comes from a message from David Zetland (at aguanomics) who, besides asking questions with obvious answers, thinks posts about cow farts cheapen his blog. To that I say, nothing can cheapen our blog--er, or something like [...]
From the inbox:
Thank you for your interest in the [EPA Science Advisory Board] Environmental Economics Advisory Committee. This is to let you know that you were not selected. We were privileged to have many qualified candidates such as yourself from which to fill just 4 openings on this committee.
Well at [...]
The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday approved a Democratic climate change bill that would require industry to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases 20 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels.
With Republicans boycotting the committee's work saying more analysis of the legislation [...]
From an Ask the Expert column I wrote for onCampus: The Ohio State University faculty staff information hub (aka on-line newsletter):
What are the basics of the recent energy policy proposals in Congress?
There are two energy bills moving through Congress right now: The American Clean Energy and Security Act in the [...]
Scientists spent eight years tracking the movements of 179 great white sharks and discovered that these predators have very predictable migration patterns between Hawaii and the North American coast. Dots below show approximate locations where 68 sharks tagged with satellite sensors were recorded at various [...]
Sen was born on this day in 1933. I was born on this day in 1969.
Sen has a Nobel Prize.
I don't.
[...]Here's the beginning and end of a column I submitted at 11:30 today for an Ask the Expert segment in our campus newsletter:
The American Clean Energy and Security Act in the House of Representatives (nicknamed ACES and cosponsored by Waxman-Markey) and the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act in the [...]
The largest stimulus program in the nation's history has created or saved at least 650,000 jobs, according to a report released by the Obama administration on Friday.
Based on approximately $150 billion in spending from the $787 billion recovery package, the tally is the first broad, concrete look at [...]
Climate change presents a global crisis, but "can also provide an economic opportunity of vast proportions," Dan Reicher, director of climate change initiatives at Google told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Besides creating new jobs in solar, wind and geothermal power, he said national regulation of [...]
From the inbox:
One of the most ambitious environmental restoration efforts ever proposed for the Great Lakes appears imminent following the emergence from a House-Senate conference committee of legislation providing $475 million for a comprehensive Great Lakes restoration and protection initiative.
"We call on the House and Senate to approve, and the [...]
In response to my post this morning, where I wrote:
Follow the bouncing ball of unintended economic consequences. Banks forward credit to people who can't afford it at interest rates that are really high. Predictably, default rates on credit cards rise. Perhaps more predictably, to protect the consumer from evil bankers, the Government passes [...]
Just weeks before an international conference on climate change, the United Nations signaled it was scaling back expectations of reaching agreement on a new treaty to slow global warming.
[...]Follow the bouncing ball of unintended economic consequences. Banks forward credit to people who can't afford it at interest rates that are really high. Predictably, default rates on credit cards rise. Perhaps more predictably, to protect the consumer from evil bankers, the Government passes regulations on the interest rates that can be charged. Sounds [...]
Bold headline this morning: Mobile Use is Linked to Brain Tumours. The lead:
LONG-term mobile phone users could face a higher risk of developing cancer in later life, according to a decade-long study.
The problem? Apparently the results were released to the media before (or simultaneously with) submission for peer-review:
Preliminary results [...]
People with relatively extreme opinions may be more willing to publicly share their views than those with more moderate views, according to a new study.
The key is that the extremists have to believe that more people share their views than actually do, the research found.
...
“When people with [...]
From Environmental Capital at the WSJ:
The law of unintended consequences strikes yet again.
Global plans to tackle climate change, from the Kyoto Protocol to the recently-passed Waxman-Markey bill, have a fatal flaw: They essentially encourage large-scale deforestation, which pretty much undermines the whole idea of curbing greenhouse-gas emissions in the first place.
That’s [...]
...either that or he thinks they learn in their sleep. From the Columbus Dispatch:
Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee still wants all sophomores to live on campus as early as 2012.
In May 2008, Gee announced his desires to have second-year students live in residence halls, [...]
In a call to arms for economists, David Zetland (from aguanomics) writes:
As an economist, I was appalled to read the comments of recent PhDs on Ostrom's award:
http://aguanomics.com/2009/10/economics-fail.html
As I am sure you know, she has made critical contributions to understanding how common pool resources can be managed in the absence [...]
From the inbox:
I'm just skimming through the morning research feeds, and saw something that might interest you if you didn't see it already. The National Research Council just completed its report on externalities of energy production and use:
The web version is free, but for some reason they charge a [...]
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he's going to sign an environmental exemption bill that will clear the way for construction of the LA Stadium.
State senators approved the bill, which would nullify a lawsuit over the project's environmental impact report by citizens in neighboring Walnut. Schwarzenegger is [...]
The OSU Extension Climate Change team is putting together a series of webinars for Ohio citizens and other interested parties to provide information about key topics related to climate change. These topics include:
Scientific data on climate change The implications of climate change for Ohio's flora [...]Here's a twist: How many light bulbs does it take to change a person?
For Ulf Erdmann Ziegler, the answer is 3,000. That's how many bulbs are squirreled away in his modest apartment, the number that turned an otherwise ordinary guy into a hoarder and made [...]
From David Zetland at Aguanomics:
People are discussing a soda tax. Forget that -- just stop subsidizing the corn that's made into the HFCS that goes into soda.
End obesity and a stupid ag subsidy at that same time.
Next!
Like myself, David is employed in an Agricultural (and a bunch of other [...]
Burmese pythons and other giant snakes imported as pets could endanger some of America's most important parks and wilderness areas if they are allowed to multiply, according to a report released on Tuesday.
Wildlife experts say the Burmese python is distributed across thousands of square miles (kilometers) in south [...]
Here's a video of Nobel Laureate-to-be Elinor Ostrom explaining the Tragedy of the Commons and her take on institutions and social rules that lessen the Tragedy.
[...]Thanks to the Nobel committee for their good timing. A PhD student of mine, Matt Interis* (now at Mississippi State University) wrote his dissertation on social norms and their role in the management (or mismanagement) of public goods. He currently has two papers under review dealing with questions surrounding the governance [...]
In a decision as shocking as Friday's surprise peace prize win, President Obama failed to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences Monday.
[...]As John pointed out, today's announcement of the Prize in Economics named after Alfred Nobel, but not really a Nobel Prize (or whatever it's called) being awarded to Elinor Ostrom could be interpreted as an award for a pseudo-environmental economist. As CNN.com puts it:
Ostrom, a professor of political science [...]
How to get your friends off the fence on climate change:
IF THE sinking Maldives aren't enough to galvanise action on climate change, could losing a classic beer do it? Climatologist Martin Mozny of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute and colleagues say that the quality of Saaz [...]
"It was like, 'Oh my God'...I was really stoked. . . . It was definitely a fascinating experience."
Santa Monica surf shop owner, Randy Wright, after snapping a picture (right) of a Great White Shark off the southern California coast
[...]One of the problems with trying to model future carbon concentrations and as a result recommend carbon reducing policies, is our fundamental inability to predict the type and timing of technological breakthroughs. From the Washington Post:
With enough technological advances, the world could get to a dramatically lower level of greenhouse gas [...]
From a story in the Madison [County, Ohio] Press on my recent appearance on a [...]
My extension responsibilites for the year are more than met:
Last week’s Farm Science Review featured a panel discussion on climate change, focusing specifically on economics and policy from the ag angle. Ohio State economists Brent Sohngen and Tim Haab, and Purdue counterpart Ben Gramig offered [...]
From the inbox:
Due to the passage of Issue 1, the City of Columbus is implementing a 0.5 percent tax increase effective today (10/1). The tax rate increase impacts all individuals residing in as well as those working in the City of Columbus.
I think I just became a fan of [...]
Alan Randall, preeminent environmental economist (and my Department Chair--yep I'm sucking up), is in the process of putting together a 3rd edition of his popular graduate text, Resource Economics*--this time co-authored with John Bergstrom. In response to a hallway conversation over Mankiw's double-dividend argument in favor of a carbon [...]
Is this announcement (from my inbox) an attempt to force the hand of Congress, or an admission by the administration that climate legislation is a nonstarter in an upcoming election year?
U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will announce today in a keynote address at the California Governor's Global Climate Summit [...]
The U.S. Northeast may have the coldest winter in a decade because of a weak El Nino, a warming current in the Pacific Ocean, according to Matt Rogers, a forecaster at Commodity Weather Group.
“Weak El Ninos are notorious for cold and snowy weather on the Eastern [...]
Senator John Kerry, in the NY Times on either the Waxman-Markey Energy Bill out of the House, or the Boxer-Kerry Energy Bill soon to be released out of the Senate (the writer isn't exactly clear to which bill the quote is referring):
"I don't know what 'cap and trade' means. I don't think [...]
After 14 years of teaching, someone finally rated me on ratemyprofessors.com (and all it took was me announcing to the class that my goal for the quarter was to be rated on ratemyprofessors). The good news: apparently I'm very fair.
Great prof, very fair. Gives many examples and is [...]
Text message from John, Saturday afternoon before the Ohio State-Illinois football game:
I'll take Illinois and the 20.5 points
My reply:
Safe bet.
Final score: OSU 30-Illinois 0.
[...]In reference to Paul Krugman's NYTimes piece yesterday on the basic economics of cap and trade, I received this e-mail from a colleague in Statistics at Ohio State:
Is Krugman being completely above board?My reply:
First, I'll state I'm not a big fan of Krugman's political commentary. With that said, [...]I just thought this was cool. Where can you go to avoid McDonald's?
From Weather Sealed:
So, I set out to determine the farthest point from a Micky Dee’s – in the lower 48 states, at least. This endeavor required information, and the nice folks at AggData were kind enough to [...]
The simple economics of a depletable resource--higher prices make it possible to extract costlier reserves (From the NY Times):
“That’s the wonderful thing about price signals in a free market — it puts people in a better position to take more exploration risk,” said James T. Hackett, chairman and chief executive [...]
From the Wall Street Journal:
As policy makers around the world take action to avoid a predicted climate catastrophe, the debate is turning to the costs of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. Energy-efficiency measures are often pricey, and alternative energy sources are more expensive than the fossil fuels they replace. A steep [...]
Being a supposedly educated panel, what is your take on the scientifically validated stories that climate change [...]
At The Ohio State University Farm Science Review, that's where:
Climate Change…Economics and Policy
10 a.m.-11 a.m. , Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009
Tobin Building, Molly Caren Center
Hosted by OSU Agricultural, Environmental & Development Economics
Our annual Farm Science Review discussion of policy and economics takes a look at climate change. [...]
From EWOT:
My new, outstanding colleague in Econ, Frank Mixon, and his co-author, Kumal Upadhyaya, have a new paper titled "Blogometrics" that's worth a look.
The authors find a strong correlation between research productivity and blog popularity.There's also a nice narrative in the paper about some of the gems in [...]
Saturday, September 12, Ohio State (#8) vs. USC (#3). Final score: USC 18, OSU 15. 1st quarter, 4th and goal for USC from the Ohio State 2 yard line. Official ruling: Touchdown. You be the judge...
[...]From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Calling soda the new tobacco, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will introduce legislation this fall that would charge a fee to retailers that sell sugary beverages.
Newsom would need voter approval to tax individual cans of soda and sugary juice, but only needs approval from the [...]
I always knew googling myself would payoff:
The Haab are a water-breathing bio-engineered artificial species created by the Banari to serve them. The Haab can breathe underwater, possess superhuman strength and have sharp teeth. The Haab have simple minds, and without the guidance [...]
The basis of any sound economic policy is the recognition that any new policy involves trade-offs--costs and benefits--no free lunch...From the Columbus Dispatch:
A Bush administration plan to cut smog in Columbus and cities across the United States might not be tough enough to protect people's health, the Obama administration said yesterday.
The [...]
From CBSNews Taking Liberties Blog:
The Obama administration has privately concluded that a cap and trade law would cost American taxpayers up to $200 billion a year, the equivalent of hiking personal income taxes by about 15 percent.
A previously unreleased analysis prepared by the U.S. Department of [...]
