I just got the news that Martin Weitzman passed away the 27th of August at the age of 77. His articles have always been ground breaking and his research questions have profoundly shaped most of my colleagues’ and my thinking in environmental economics. His research will continue to inspire the next generations of environmental economists. I hope to find some time soon to do him more justice in an extensive post.
Geir Asheim
Professor of Economics, University of Oslo
Year of birth: 1953
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In my last post I discussed about the policy-academia gap. One additional issue is that the entry costs into the policy debate are extremely high for researchers and experts. Without exhaustive ground work, and without a continuous exposure to policy makers and the general public, most researchers do not have the option to get direct access to either politicians or to provide even official statements in wide-read newspapers about policies.
Read MorePolicies should never be implemented without a clear idea as to what they are supposed to achieve. This clear idea tends to be an underlying model of the world which suggests that this policy intervention will lead to a desired outcome. That requires deep analyses, fundamental research, and an objective look at the problem. Without doubt, that’s the job of academia.
Read MoreThe European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists feels there is an urgent need to keep pushing for a carbon price. If you are an (European) economist you may want to sign this statement. Even if you are not an economist, we’d be happy if you support our goal.
Read MoreThere is a new interesting paper just published in Environmental & Resource Economics entitled “Does Absolution Promote Sin? A Conservationist’s Dilemma“. The authors are Matthew Harding and David Rapson. What’s my take on this?
Read MoreWe always want everything faster and faster, but as always we tend to ignore the costs. However, the faster you drive against a wall the more it will hurt. 5G is exactly this – driving against a wall with high frequency, literally. So what is at stake? Read on.
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