I will refer you later to a much larger work I’ve put together on “everything you need to know about the economics of climate change” … and among the key uncertainties are: What is the equilibrium climate sensitivity (i.e. long-term feedback)? There is zero consensus on this. (“feedback”) What is an appropriate way to count […]
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… for the “rules of economics” not to apply! How often have you heard things like, “during an emergency, the rules of economics don’t apply!”? Or, health care and the environment are too important for the rules of economics to apply. Economics just doesn’t belong here. If only! To suggest that the rules of economics […]
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When you sit through a Physics 101 course, you are taught fundamental laws of motion, particularly Newtownian mechanics. You are then assigned problems that may go something like: you jump naked off of the Freedom Tower, and there is no wind velocity in any direction. How long until impact? And then you go ahead and […]
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Going through all of the famous Feynman lectures may not be for you, though I do recommend many of them, but reading some of Feynman’s popular work is highly recommended as is learning a little bit more about him. I very much appreciated his comments to close his few years of teaching “Intro” physics at […]
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Posted in Economics 108 on Nov 28th, 2014
Ponder this. Perhaps the best way to keep global fossil fuel consumption down now is for all nations to sign a global climate accord that promises they will do absolutely nothing about climate change over the next 100 years. Intro econ students should be able to explain why this strategy may prove more successful than current approaches, and for […]
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HT to Randy Parker of ECU.
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Posted in Economics 108, Methodology on Aug 31st, 2012
Today we sponsor a guest post from UR undergraduate student Zhenghao Li. I told him to write up a great question he asked me the other day about how it is that some people seem to hold inconsistent positions when it comes to valuing their time. I’ll withhold comments and give him the stage. I […]
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George Stigler, I think, once quipped, "If you never missed a flight in your life, you've spent too much time in an airport." While there is much wisdom in this observation, I would recommend not taking it too seriously. We like to get to airports early so that we do not miss our flights. There […]
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Posted in Courses & Student Resources on Mar 19th, 2012
Check out what we have in store for next week. All students are of course welcome as are any residents in or near the Rochester area. (I will repost this several times in the coming days, I apologize for that). Liberty Week Speaker Series "Litigating for Liberty" Sunday March 25, 2012 7PM-8:30PM University of Rochester, […]
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On a drive to Ontario Beach Park the other day, our transmission had a feeder tube break. We lost all of the tranny fluid, which when I kept driving it led to the complete wreckage of our transmission. Our car is in the shop now undergoing the construction of a brand new transmission. Total cost […]
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