Environmental and Urban Economics

• Not Cool! Facebook Doesn't Lie About One's Past

  Fred Raudat, an old friend from Hamilton College's class of 1988, has been posting photos of the "good old days" to his Facebook page. In the pictures, everyone looks cool; playing rock & roll and drinking brew. I finally found a picture of myself in the set and what am [...]
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  Posted: December 09, 2009, 9:34pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Six Members of the British Parliament Visit the UCLA Institute of the Environment

  These are exciting days at my Institute. We just met for 1.5 hours with six MPs from the British Parliament. We had a good talk about energy policy issues. Here is photo of me with my new friends.
  
  
  
  I had a good talk [...]
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  Posted: December 09, 2009, 1:52pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Tiger Woods Offers Economists a Test of Our Theory of Labor Supply

  Professor Mankiw should consider incorporating the following income effects case study into his next edition of his textbook. Based on the simple labor supply theory of substitution and income effects, I predict that Tiger Woods will play in more tournaments in 2010. In 2009 (pre-discovery of his prowling) Tiger [...]
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  Posted: December 09, 2009, 10:54am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Copenhagen and International Carbon Politics

  I have been trying to follow the Copenhagen news stories such as this LA Times piece but I must admit that I do not have a good grasp on how nations actually negotiate with each other on such carbon mitigation issues. Nations know their current carbon emissions (so [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2009, 11:55pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The End of the Era of Academic Free Agency?

  Recent experience has shown that loyalty to one's home university is admirable but costly in terms of wages. Is this about to change? In academic economics, we have seen a rise in pay inequality. Wall Street deserves some credit for this as do some rich ambitious departments that have sought [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2009, 11:58am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Coda Automotive Visits UCLA's Institute of the Environment

  Coda Automotive CEO Kevin Czinger gave a presentation today at the UCLA Institute of the Environment. Several of my undergraduates and PHD students attended. "Green" companies in the Greater Los Angeles area are welcome to visit our Institute. We are eager to meet the next generation of "leaders" [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 9:35pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Return of a Minor League Blogger

  I'm back after 5 days at UC Berkeley. We love Los Angeles but it appears that our fridge is broken. I'm hoping that President Obama will use stimulus $ to buy me an energy efficient fridge for -$500. Whenever I go to Berkeley, I learn. Like the New York Times [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 8:27pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Is Time Passing Too Quickly?

  This academic quarter has flown by. Neither the upset UC students nor office hours have been able to slow down time. Everyone knows that time is passing too quick but nobody is taking action to fight this. The New York Times is shocked that James Spader will turn 50 [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 11:09pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Tyler Cowen on China and Transparency

  This NY Times piece has some interesting ideas. Environmental scholars have wondered about the quality of the aggregate carbon dioxide statistics that China generates. Do we really know how many tons of carbon this big nation produces each year? In terms of data quality, is this the tip [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 10:30am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Credible Foreign Policy and Basic Game Theory: The Cases of Israel and Honduras

  This NY Times editorial below surprises me. Could the Smart Obama Team really be this bad at basic game theory? I thought that during the Cold War that RAND was paid big bucks for teaching the government strategy lessons in dealing with the Soviet Union. I guess that the stock [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 11:41am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The U.S Carbon Legislation: "Demonstrate Resolve"

  I agree with Nat Keohane's main claim here . I read this as a "Field of Dreams" domino effect. If we build it, they (i.e China, India) will follow. The specific details don't really matter. Leadership is leadership. We are trying to shift a perception that the U.S is' [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 12:02pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times Need to Study Algebra Again

  I am happy to hear that China has pledged to reduce its carbon intensity by 40% by 2020 but does this guarantee a smaller global carbon footprint? Recall that carbon intensity = tons of CO2/GNP. China's economy has been growing by 8% per year. Make the big assumption that this [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 1:42pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• We Are All Keynesians Now

  Okay, I'll cry uncle. The Keynesian Multiplier of this government spending is very large. My Dynamic Stochastic GE Model concludes that for every $ that the Department of Energy gives to Los Angeles we generate $3112 of new output and intellectual capital. If you want documentation for how my' [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 11:26am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Green Buildings Conference at UC Berkeley Next Week

  Next week there will be a very interesting energy conference at UC Berkeley. I don't like to travel far from Los Angeles but this is worth the effort. These are very exciting days to study empirical energy questions here in California. When I taught in Boston, I was' [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 7:11pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Life and Death of Turkeys

  Bloggers are supposed to provide useful links. Each Thanksgiving, I think about the life of the turkey. This website answered many of my questions about the typical turkey's Biography .
  
  Switching subjects and returning to issues that I actually know something about:
  
  I have a deep interest [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 7:43pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Green Harvard Battles Allston Rats

  Apparently, it is not hard to get into Harvard. Ask these Rats. They clearly were
  excited about the opportunity to be research subjects in the new Allston labs and came up from below ground to volunteer to be part of randomized trials. They were "rewarded" for their altruism with sharp [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 12:19pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• UCLA Expertise on Climate Change

  Here's a new criteria for ranking research universities; who on your faculty has thought about the broad issue of climate change? Permit UCLA to put its cards on the table. [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 1:56pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Economics Humor

  The Young Men (could any women be writing this stuff?) at www.econjobrumors.com are very funny. Dora and I greatly appreciate their cumulative wisdom. I wish that I had the time and the anger to join them because I could certainly top their remarks but I've reached an age where I'm [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 12:49pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Environmental Consequences of Long Lived Durable Capital

  The New York Times has a front page article today bemoaning that NYC has an old sewer system that overloads on rainy days. Late in the article, the piece claims that the City has relied on gravity (taking sewage downhill to the treatment facilities) rather than investing in costly infrastructure [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 11:32am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• New Research on the Role of "Good Schools" Causing a Reduction in the Propensity to Commit Crime

  For academic economists, there are certain seasons. In early October, we wonder if we will win the Nobel Prize this year. In early November, we wonder whether there are any interesting job market candidates and we click around the various leading departments to see who are the new Ph.Ds being [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 10:07pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Academic Macro Economics Just Keeps Getting Trickier

  In 1988, I thought that the Brock-Mirman one sector Growth Model was nasty stuff but now look at Exhibit A and Exhibit B. Progress not regress.
  
  I will let you decide if this elegant model resembles the modern economy. Do you see Google within [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 6:41pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Leading Indicators of West LA's Economic Recovery

  My neighbor , Candy Spelling, is showing confidence in local housing prices. As a patriotic American, she has not lowered the asking price of $150 million for this Little Holmby House:
  
  
  
  I play golf on the golf course just out of sight on [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 9:59am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• How Do You Grow Your Own Miniature David Brooks?

  Parents understand backwards induction. We believe that if our child can attend an elite university that this will build his/her human capital, social networks and resume. The fancy university bumper sticker on your car will signal that this kid should and will be part of the meritocratic elite (i.e the [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 11:00pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• National Commitments to CO2 Targets: First Mover Advantage Due To Thermal Underwear

  If you had to bet, will China or the USA move first and make a credible commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Are there any benefits to being the first mover? Today, the New York Times explains why South Korea has been willing to unilaterally show some leadership on [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 10:00pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• UCLA Pollution Research Bolsters the Case for Closing Santa Monica Airport

  I know how to conduct a cost/benefit analysis. I gain nothing from the Santa Monica Airport and this UCLA research documents the ambient air pollution costs. I can personally vouch that this airport's planes are noisy. Add the social costs of noise pollution + social costs of the [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 9:59pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Cash for Caulkers Redux and Anticipating Behavioral Responses to the Embedded Incentives

  This blog post on incentives for improving home energy efficiency caught my eye.
  
  "HOME STAR would reimburse homeowners for a range of residential energy upgrades including air sealing, insulation, new light bulbs and household appliances. Homeowners would be eligible to receive up to $2,000 for implementing" [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 8:34pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Some Thoughts on Cash for Caulkers

  The New York Times is in deep thought about improving U.S buildings' energy efficiency. Here is Exhibit A and Here is exhibit B.
  
  I certainly agree that buildings are major consumers of electricity and I agree that older buildings that were built before more stringent building' [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 12:30pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Productive Furlough Days

  All around the country, other academics feel sorry for their UC peers as we gain some first hand experience with furloughs. Here are the details . You can see our respective pay cuts in % terms and you can see that we have been granted the right to "engage" [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:41pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• New Intellectual Property Created at UCLA

  Number of comments: 0
  David Levine and his buddy Boldrin may have left UCLA a couple of years ago but I hope they are proud of its recent intellectual property . Would this stuff have been dreamed up under the Boldrin/Levine rules? Note that the Economists on campus have produced most of [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 7:39pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Consequences of Smoking Bans at Columbia University: Another Test of the Pollution Havens Hypothesis?

  Number of comments: 0
  University Senate meetings are usually not that interesting unless the faculty is in the mood to yell at the President. But, here are some quotes from a Columbia meeting examining the issue of a smoking ban on the main campus.
  
  "Michael McNeil, assistant director of Health Services at Columbia," [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 10:39am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Famous for Robbing the Famous: Rent Seeking in the Modern Los Angeles Economy

  Number of comments: 0
  Are you a productive citizen? Are you adding more to our economy than this pretty gang ? The "Bling Ring" was smart enough to use the Internet to identify which celebrities live in which LA homes and then to use the Internet to know which celebrities would be out [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 11:49am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Ambient Lead Pollution in China

  Number of comments: 0
  The LA Times has a sad article today about industrial lead emissions in specific regions in China . The article says that this is direct evidence of the pollution haven hypothesis. As developed countries regulated lead emissions, China grabbed this market and produced lead that is used as [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 11:08am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• This Week's Lexington Column in The Economist

  Number of comments: 1
  My mother has always liked Mike Cragg so she will be happy to see that Cragg and I are cited in this Lexington Column in The Economist . People have been interested in our work examining the political economy of Carbon voting such as the vote on the June [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 8:14pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Can Economists Learn from Tao's Example? Will Academic Economics Become Open Source?

  Number of comments: 1
  Terence Tao, a UCLA star math prof, is using his blog as an open source platform to allow countless math nerds to work together on the same paper at the same time.
  
  "After six months and more than 1,000 comments from more than 50 mathematicians, a paper titled “A" [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 4:02pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Measuring the Output of Economists

  Number of comments: 0
  All academic fields have an index numbers problem. To collapse a scholar's lifetime output into a single index of quality, we must agree on how to add up "apples" and "oranges". Do 3 QJE papers = 412 Journal of Junk Food Publications? How much does your star status go up' [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 3:44pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The New York Post is a Leading Academic Source for Ideas and Quotes

  Number of comments: 0
  As I try to finish the final draft of my new book, I found these letters, from angry New Yorkers who were frustrated by heavy rains knocking out the NYC subways in 2007, to be quite useful. The NY Post captures the voice of "real" New Yorkers. Somehow, the letters [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 1:00am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• My Father Wins a NYU Teaching Award

  Number of comments: 0
  I haven't won any teaching awards and I don't expect to win any soon. I do know a guy who wins these things and he is proud of it and I'm proud of him. But, he could publish more!
  
  Master Clinician: Martin L. Kahn, MD, the Joel E. and' [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 8:46pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Evan Smith Reinvents Texas News Coverage

  Number of comments: 0
  Evan Smith, an old friend from Hamilton '87, is featured in a photo in the NY Times Business page today . He looks tough in the picture. What has he done? Started a hedge fund? Gone to a tea party? No and No. He has created a new way' [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 12:07pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Good Luck in the Big City

  Number of comments: 0
  There are some selfless people in the Big City. Here is a very
  nice story about good luck in a big city. A cynic would say that the cardiologist anticipated that she would get a nice write up in People Magazine but I don't believe this.[...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 2:47pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The "Treatment Effect" of Doctors

  Number of comments: 0
  Are doctors good for you? When are they good for you? As they learn how to do their craft, could their treatment improve and become more cost-effective? Here is David Leonhardt's piece on health care and doctor's value added
  
  For applied micro scholars, we can map this [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 10:56am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Ken Caldeira's Congressional Testimony on Geoengineering

  Number of comments: 0
  Ken Caldeira's opening remarks from his 11/5/09 testimony are reported here. Below, I provide some quotes from his remarks but first allow me to editorialize.
  
  Wikipedia tells us that "Ken Caldeira is an atmospheric scientist who works at the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global" [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 7:28pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Is Brooklyn a "Green City"? New Cement Production in Red Hook

  Number of comments: 0
  Cement Factories are part of the "old economy". Do they have any place in a "consumer city" such as Brooklyn?
  
  "But Red Hook, a western Brooklyn peninsula known for its rough-hewn docks and their denizens, has been cultivating a gentler, more genteel image for years now, becoming" [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 11:27am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Good Life: A Harvard Case Study

  Number of comments: 0
  Tournaments feature a skewed payoff distribution. Tiger Woods wins much more cash than the runner up. This creates strong incentives to devote effort. Academic Economics can be viewed as such a tournament. Our superstars do the profession a service by opening up their homes and showing what [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 11:58am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Cost Overuns and the Denver Rail System

  Number of comments: 1
  I am not surprised that the Denver rail's FasTracks is vastly over budget. I am often "railed" against the rising total cost of such public works projects. Voters do have a right to know the final cost of a project before they vote on it. Unfortunately, this type' [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 10:28am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Will LeBron James Move to the Knicks? A Test of Whether the Internet Substitutes for Big Cities

  Number of comments: 1
  An open question in urban economics is whether information technology is a complement or substitute for living in a big city? Does the Internet and the fax machine increase or decrease the demand for living in New York City or Los Angeles? In a well known paper, Glaeser and [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 10:22am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Take Your Son to Work Day

  Number of comments: 0
  My wife has a full time job. Apparently, we have a son. This sometimes has consequences for my routine.
  
  
  
  Last year, I was invited to speak to a crowd of roughly 250 people at the UCLA Opportunity Green Conference. Grist's Russ Walker was kind' [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 9:47pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Some Thoughts on the Superfreakonomics Carbon Controversy

  Number of comments: 1
  I just took the superfreakonomics global warming quiz and as usual scored a B+. Steve says that carbon mitigation will cost us a $1 trillion dollars a year. He is well aware that there is a confidence interval around that number but let's think about that number.
  [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 5:02pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• How Do You Generate Demand for a Home Priced at Over $10 Million?

  Number of comments: 0
  Real estate agents have to earn their 3%. They have to live with Levitt's and Syverson's view of them and in the midst of this ongoing economic trouble, it takes some work to sell a $10+ million dollar house. To generate some buzz about these shacks, the real [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 4:09pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The City/Suburban Carbon Footprint Differential and the Implicit Subsidies in the Tax Code: How Do OP-ED Readers Respond to Economic Logic?

  Number of comments: 3
  Ed Glaeser makes some excellent points about the suburban subsidy implicit in our tax code: "Yet the tax code encourages Americans to live in big, energy-guzzling homes, instead of thrifty apartments, and Congress seems intent on further unbalancing the federal budget to egg on home buyers."
  
  As [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 10:47am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• An Arbitrage Opportunity?

  Number of comments: 0
  If you can find people who believe that the world will end in 2012 , then in late 2011 they should be willing to trade you all of their worldly stuff for a small December 2011 payment. It will be interesting to see if eBay's auction volume activity significantly' [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 1:24pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Are You Funnier than the Late Night Comics? The Case of Climate Change's Impacts

  Number of comments: 0
  Last weekend, I tried (for the 3rd time) to submit a caption for the New Yorker's Cartoon . My quote was; "I am happy to inform you that your head will not roll".
  
  
  
  Get it? During this time of recession and job' [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 12:29pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Carbon Pricing Will Help Warren Buffett Get Rich From Investing in Railroads

  Number of comments: 5
  Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) (BRKb.N) will pay $26 billion to buy out railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (BNI.N) in what the billionaire investor called a bet on the U.S. economy. Did you know that freight trains have a fuel economy of 400 MPG? That's better than a [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:58am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• My New Favorite Journal: Reviews in History

  Number of comments: 1
  Forget the AER, JPE or QJE, if you are looking to read a journal filled with action packed punches and kicks take a look at the Review of History. Now that I've published in it, I wanted to see what other people publish there and it is wild stuff. I' [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 11:36pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Geoengineering's Debutante Ball

  Number of comments: 1
  I hope the smart blogger start talking about the "Lulling hypothesis". Child proof safety caps on medicine lull people into not hiding medicine from kids and kids break into the pills. Diabetic medicines for fighting high blood sugar lull diabetics into thinking they can eat lots of sweets. Will geoengineering [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 8:17pm EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Another New York City to Los Angeles Convert

  Number of comments: 0
  Julian Casablancas, the lead singer of the Strokes, and I do have something in common. Twenty years ago, I had hair like him but not any more. With the rock music scene in Los Angeles, he moved from NYC to LA for a while and really likes it .
  [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 10:31am EST
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• A Case Study for Elinor Ostrom's 2009 Nobel Speech?

  Number of comments: 4
  Here is a French tragedy of the commons. In a happy utopia, people could share the bicycles through renting them, using them and returning them and this "green transit mode" would reduce vehicle use. But, this has not played out. 80% of the bikes have been stolen or [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2009, 12:03am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Stanford University's Carbon Footprint: Is Golf Causing Climate Change?

  Number of comments: 2
  Tiger Woods needs to use some of his billions offsetting his carbon emissions. Trained for a little while at Stanford, he must have enjoyed playing on this miniature golf course. I know that Stanford has invested a fair bit of money to be a green campus but suppose all [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2009, 11:53pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Future of Research Economics

  Number of comments: 7
  Tyler Cowen notes some relevant trends here . I talk to people and they say that applied micro has suffered over the last 15 years as top Americans have gone to Wall Street rather than the professor route. When I was a graduate student 20 years ago, my [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2009, 1:12pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• What are Economists Good For?

  Number of comments: 0
  Well, we know we can't screw in a lightbulb but that can be outsourced. Auction theorists know that they have made a difference in the real world. Want proof? Click here . Preston McAfee serves up a very interesting recent intellectual history.
  
  What else are we good' [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2009, 7:33pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• My First History Publication

  Number of comments: 0
  Here is proof that I can publish in a history journal. The Costa/Kahn book was reviewed in a history journal and we were invited to reply. I wish that the Journal of Economic Literature would allow me to respond to Ed Mills' review of my Green Cities' [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2009, 11:55am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• New York State Confronts The Energy Suppy/Natural Capital Protection Tradeoff

  Number of comments: 2
  People in New York City want clean water to drink and access to cheap natural gas. This article highlights the tradeoff. To protect the water supply from pollution at the drill site, the energy company has been pushed not to drill in upper New York State. Given that [...]
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  Posted: October 28, 2009, 10:01am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Ed Glaeser's Tribute to John Meyer

  Number of comments: 1
  In this Economix Piece , Ed remembers a great economist. It is striking that a great man's life can be boiled down to roughly 2000 words. You live for 25,000 days (if you are lucky). At 10 days a word, this piece is a powerful reminder of John [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2009, 9:55am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• A "Natural Experiment" on Local Human Capital Spillovers at Columbia University?

  Number of comments: 0
  According to this article , Columbia University plans to move some Nobel Laureate faculty from their current Medical School location to a new location. Will this raise or lower productivity of the Medical School as a whole? Presuming that the Nobel Laureates offer positive local spillover effects (is this [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 11:42am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• What Do Other Academics Do All Day?

  Number of comments: 0
  We roughly know what economists do all day (teach?, blog?) but what about everybody else? In this interview, UCLA's Richard Ambrose sketches his background and explains why he studies water systems.
  
  Now that I know the modern research university, I still think I would have [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 10:23am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Future of Macro?

  Number of comments: 0
  James Hamilton has written a great pithy piece on the possible causes of the recent deep recession. As a retired macroeconomist (I dropped out in 1988), I wonder how modern macro guys will figure out how to disentangle the possible explanations that he poses. What calibration exercise will [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 11:45am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• My Carbon Debate on Japanese National NHK TV

  Number of comments: 0
  I woke up at 430am this morning to participate in this debate on Japan's efforts to reduce its CO2 emissions. I'm glad I did it. The other NHK panelists were smart. The challenge is that I do not speak Japanese so the translator was constantly taking my words' [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 10:27am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Job Opening at UCLA's Institute of the Environment: Asst. Prof Focused on "Energy and the Environment"

  Number of comments: 1
  Who said that California no longer creates jobs? Here is a new "green job". Your office will be pretty close to mine and you may actually see me once in a while. In sunny Los Angeles, I mainly work outside but I certainly do appear at the UCLA [...]
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  Posted: October 24, 2009, 12:49pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• My Debut in a Chinese Newspaper

  Number of comments: 0
  If you can read Chinese, my recent interview with China's Energy News may entertain you. If you can't read Chinese, you have to admit that it is still funny. On sunday, I will appear on Japanese television. I will appear in a debate format on NHK tv to' [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2009, 8:22pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Trust and Kidney Exchange at UCLA

  Number of comments: 0
  This would be a difficult field experiment to get IRB approval for! It looks like higher stakes stuff relative to dropping envelopes with cash in the middle of the University quad and asking people to transfer some fraction of this cash to another student who may promise to [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2009, 10:35am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Is Public Support for Tackling Global Warming Cooling?

  Number of comments: 0
  What causal factors move public opinion? Are you a fundamentals guy or do you believe in path dependence models so that small shocks set off a contagion/multiplier effect as everybody is talking about the "Octomom" or the "balloon boy". In the Case of Global Warming, has Al Gore's movie worn [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2009, 5:48pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Could Public Transit Soon Become Even Slower Relative to Car Trips?

  Number of comments: 0
  The full time cost of commuting by any transit mode (car, walk, bus, subway) has a fixed time cost and marginal time cost per mile. For some facts about these differentials by mode circa 2001 See Table 3 of this paper . Cars have a low fixed time cost [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 10:07pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• John Meyer

  Number of comments: 0
  Harvard's John Meyer died yesterday. He was a great urban economist. His combined contributions to urban economics, transport economics and economic history merited a share of a nobel prize. He also served for a decade as the President of NBER (before it moved to Cambridge).
  
  Ed Glaeser introduced me' [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 2:51pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Should the National Science Foundation Fund Social Science Research?

  Number of comments: 2
  Of course, but what % should go to economics or political science or sociology?
  The New York Times Arts Section tackles a piece of this issue today. It focuses on political science. Has this field lost its bearings by imitating economics? I don't believe this.
  
  When' [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 11:58pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Fiscal Impact of California's AB 32

  Number of comments: 2
  The Sacramento Bee is full of useful stuff. When they aren't publishing my salary, they are highlighting important policy debates taking place in California's Capital (Sacramento). This article on AB32 is a case in point. When a new "big" policy (whether it is health care reform, a war' [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 11:51am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Geoengineering and the Economics of Climate Change

  Number of comments: 17
  Do we address threats ex-ante or ex-post? The anticipated access to ex-post remedies creates a moral hazard effect through lulling. A recent University of Chicago PHD thesis argued that we are getting fatter over time because we anticipate that if we get too fat we can (ex-post) have stomach surgery [...]
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  Posted: October 17, 2009, 8:36pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Beijing Air Pollution Dynamics and the Environmental Kuznets Curve

  Number of comments: 0
  Beijing's ambient pollution level depends on the scale of nearby economic activity (i.e cars, people, power plants, factories) and their respective emissions factors (pollution per unit of activity such as emissions per mile). This NY Times article celebrates that the quality of capitalism (i.e greener techniques) is offsetting [...]
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  Posted: October 17, 2009, 4:56pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Santa Monica Embraces Smart Public Policy!

  Number of comments: 1
  Santa Monica drivers will soon be paying much more for scarce parking spots . Will city revenue rise? Will bus ridership rise? Will travel speeds increase? Will air quality improve? Will fewer shoppers appear to go shopping on 3rd street?
  
  I hope that this experiment serves [...]
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  Posted: October 15, 2009, 1:57pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• $ 10,000 Per Square Foot in a Nice Tower in Hong Kong

  Number of comments: 1
  So, you can buy a Detroit home or 1.3 square feet in this expensive Hong Kong tower. Tough choice!
  
  It is raining in Los Angeles. Who knew that this could happen? We have built up a wall of bricks at the base of our backyard hill [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 2:23pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Traffic Congestion/Air Pollution Nexus: Reduce Infant Mortality By Introducing the EZ Pass

  Number of comments: 3
  You don't want to live near a highway toll plaza, especially if cars get stuck there waiting to pay the toll. This paper presents a "natural experiment" under which EZ-Pass is introduced and a before/after comparison of infant mortality rates in neighborhoods nearby is calculated. Death rates' [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2009, 12:12pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Do You Want to Buy Nicholas Cage's Home?

  Number of comments: 0
  Here are the details on this movie star's home. $17 million is a pretty serious price. I was not aware that he lives .9 miles away. I will look for him at the local Starbucks.
  
  
  
  Driving directions to Warner Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024
  
  [...]
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  Posted: October 11, 2009, 10:48pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Smarter Cities: New Datasets Generated by City Governments and the Nerds Who Love Them

  Number of comments: 0
  In case I win the Nobel Prize tomorrow, I wanted to make a couple of points because I could be real busy the next couple of weeks. In today's NY Times, Steve Lohr has a nice piece that will excite Supercrunchers. Cities are sitting on data goldmines. If [...]
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  Posted: October 11, 2009, 12:45pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys Doesn't Recognize Me at Little Holmby Park

  Number of comments: 0
  Today at the Little Holmby Park, I spotted a guy who I am sure is Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. I was throwing a nerf football with my son and numerous "Star Tour" buses were coming by to gawk at Aaron Spelling's nearby mansion. My intuition told me that [...]
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  Posted: October 10, 2009, 8:21pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Year 2036 Offers a Test of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis

  Number of comments: 2
  Richard Posner has taught me to worry about big asteroids hitting our planet. I was focused on other concerns (like journal revise and resubmits) until I read his book. As NASA continues to update its probability assessment of the likelihood that this big rock called Apophis will hit our planet [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 12:38am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Carbon Footprint of Pets

  Number of comments: 4
  Below, I provide you with a photo of a 7 foot dog. He will play for the LA Clippers this year. This picture got me thinking. I live in Westwood, Los Angeles. Here we have a suburban housing stock but most of the homes have no children living there. Instead, [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 1:14pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• UCI/UCLA/USC First Real Estate Research Day

  Number of comments: 1
  All economists know that there are too many conferences. Can't we shrink our carbon footprint and cancel 95% of them? That said, tomorrow there will be an real estate/urban economics conference at UCLA. Here are some details. It takes some work to organize one of these things so' [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 10:14am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Smart Buildings will Shrink Our Carbon Footprint

  Number of comments: 1
  Do you need some good news in your life? Try this . In New York City, Vornado Reality Trust (a major commercial property landlord) is installing small electricity meters into its tenants offices. These sensors will provide data on energy use by 15 minute intervals to some big data [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 2:20pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Do Charter Cities Cause Increased Investment in Skill Formation?

  Number of comments: 0
  Paul Romer is investigating how the introduction of Charter Cities could improve the economic performance of LDCs. My UCLA colleagues know that I keep talking about Paul's ideas at lunch. On his new blog, he is actively seeking to promote a debate about his ideas. Here is my [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 8:03pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The "Green" Consequences of Introducing the Plug-In Prius by 2012

  Number of comments: 3
  This article says that Toyota will soon introduce plug-in hybrids. It claims that these vehicles will be able to travel up to 10 miles on just their electric battery and then each night they would be recharged. So, this means that urban drivers could sharply increase their vehicle's' [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2009, 10:30pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• In the Near Future There Will Be Lots of 100 Year Old People

  Number of comments: 0
  Social Security may have an even bigger problem in the year 2109 or so says this news item: Born in 2009 and Living to the year 2109 . How will we discourage seniors from morphing into Grandpa Simpson and instead encourage them to continue to be productive members of [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2009, 2:14pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Blame Game: Has California's Green Push Caused A Deeper Recession Here?

  Number of comments: 3
  In the 1970s, macro productivity indicators were declining at the same time that EPA regulation was increasing. Some claimed that there was a causal link between these facts. It was claimed that increased regulation lowered business productivity through increasing the labor and capital inputs required to comply with the new [...]
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  Posted: October 03, 2009, 10:54pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Technology Forcing and Energy Sucking Flat Screen Televisions

  Number of comments: 0
  We know that technological change is the key for us achieving the "win-win" of continued economic growth and a clean, climate change free future. How do we accelerate such technological change? The California CEC is trying to force television makers into building more energy efficient televisions by mandating very strict [...]
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  Posted: October 03, 2009, 12:00pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• A 36 Hour Trip to Lexington, Kentucky

  Number of comments: 0
  I am back in LA after 4 flights in 36 hours. I'm glad I went because I had the chance to see my old friends at the University of Kentucky. UK has built up quite a crew of applied micro researchers and there was a lot to talk about. Steve' [...]
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  Posted: October 03, 2009, 2:31am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Magic Formula for Writing a Good Book for a General Audience

  Number of comments: 3
  I am writing a book about how our cities will adapt to climate change. I'm trying to write a serious book but a book that people might actually crack open on the airplane or in the shower. The New York Times Book Review shows me what they are "good books"' [...]
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  Posted: September 30, 2009, 1:22pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Energy Issues in the News

  Number of comments: 1
  The Senate will now take up Carbon legislation and it is interesting that Senator Boxer's opening bill proposes more aggressive 2020 carbon cuts than the House Waxman/Markey bill. This surprises me.
  
  But, let's move on.
  
  The NY Times had a nice piece on the water requirements of [...]
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  Posted: September 30, 2009, 10:30am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Where are the Hybrids? The Answer is Berkeley and Other "Walkable" Communities and This is Why Priuses Hit People

  Number of comments: 0
  The Economist Magazine posts a puzzle.
  
  The answer to this riddle is explained here and here .
  
  The Prius is not spatially uniformly distributed it clusters in richer, more educated communities but it also concentrates in liberal, dense, walkable and public transit friendly [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2009, 8:53pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Closing the Harlem vs. Scarsdale Achievement Gap

  Number of comments: 0
  As an underachiever from the Scarsdale Class of 1984, this new Stanford research by a professor named Minter-Hoxby caught my eye. Charter Schools appear to have a serious Treatment Effect. But, why do they? In thinking about the development of "human capability", the key unobservable is what goes on in [...]
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  Posted: September 28, 2009, 5:14pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• International Trade in Waste Revisited

  Number of comments: 1
  Will Larry Summers comment on the mutual benefits of this globalization? Here is direct evidence of the pollution haven effect at work. As Europe ratches up its pollution regulation, waste is now being exported to poorer nations. Unlike in the case of international trade in manufacturing, there [...]
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  Posted: September 27, 2009, 12:09pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• The Future of Appalachia

  Number of comments: 0
  There are no direct flights from Los Angeles to Lexington, Kentucky. Next thursday, I will have the pleasure of flying through Houston as I try to get to Lexington. I will be participating in this conference on friday 10/2.
  
  I am greatly looking forward to this [...]
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  Posted: September 26, 2009, 5:43pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Stanford Learns the Costs of the H1N1 Flu

  Number of comments: 0
  Do we have good estimates of the costs of the flu? This article highlights the costs that Stanford Seniors have suffered. Would a hyperbolic model have predicted a riot against the Administration's rules? Will the Stanford class of 2010 donate less $ to the school because they were [...]
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  Posted: September 26, 2009, 12:35am EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn

• Some Deep Thoughts on Shrinking a Person's Carbon Footprint

  Number of comments: 1
  To reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, we need per-capita emissions to decline faster than population grows. Given continued world per-capita income growth, how can we reduce per-capita carbon emissions?
  
  My strong Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger argues here that children should not take long hot showers. His thoughts are [...]
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  Posted: September 25, 2009, 7:24pm EDT
  by Matthew E. Kahn