Tag Archives: economic policy

Some limitations in pricing nature

Nature is complicated and protecting it cannot be reduced to pricing a single species, place or chemical. Even if economists would like it so. In the Netflix film, Social Dilemma, one of the interviewees, Justin Rosenstein, talks of a world … Continue reading

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Drought and saving water: we should value cultural dispositions.

A cultural predisposition has economic value.  We should try and calculate it in order to be able to assess the benefits of investing in cultural change. Reflecting on the Californian drought, I imagined a people which is thrifty with water … Continue reading

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A Seasonal Tale: The Brilliant Economists of Easter Island

In trying to explain belief economics, I was reminded of a seasonal story: the tale of the utterly brilliant economists of Easter Island.  Despite the historical inaccuracies, it nonetheless makes a startling case. Belief Economics is the study of why … Continue reading

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Ouch: a system of environmental justice

Maximising happiness does not work. I wonder if minimising pain can work a bit better. Let’s say we create a measure of a unit of pain e.g. a “hurt” established by experiment as the pain experienced by putting your index … Continue reading

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Ten policies to increase demand for low carbon living and policies

Today a think-tank (IPPR) published a call for a central bank to regulate the EU ETS.  You heard this back in May 2006 on the Bustard (https://www.thebustard.com/?p=457). So here, a few years too early, are ten policies to cut emissions. … Continue reading

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