CSEP Paper 0: The Economics of Climate Change

Climate change has been termed “the greatest market failure the world has ever seen” (Stern, 2007). At the same time, economists disagree on how much we should do about climate change and when. Some reason that future generations will be richer than current generations. The calculations of the “social cost of carbon” by the UK and US governments have given rise to a range of different estimates, and a furious debate about what the discount rate should be has taken place. Some argue that this is a normative question, others that it is purely descriptive.

In this talk, Ida Sognnæs, a Ph.D. Candidate in Land Economy, will give an introduction to the economics of climate change. I will present the leading economic models of climate change and the criticisms they have received by both well-renowned economists and academics in other disciplines.

This lecture was recorded on 23rd February at Sidgwick Site, University of Cambridge.

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[briandavey]

Very clearly presented. What infuriates me about mainstream "economics" and economists is the way that they have run taken possibly the most important problem facing humanity and made policy choices about it almost entirely incomprehensible to ordinary people, claiming an expertise that they do not have, making calculations that are not only guesswork but based on dubious ethical and philosophical assumptions, and actively delayed and presented urgent action. www.credoeconomics.com