The Economics of Global Warming

Tom Tietenberg, one of the leading economists working in the field of environmental economics has edited a collection of the most important articles and papers on global warming, which poses major challenges to our economic and political institutions. In this authoritative volume, leading economists bring unusual clarity and insight to the process of understanding these challenges and meets them with pragmatic solutions. Specific topics include: modelling and responding to the unique types of risks posed by global warming; estimating the cost of control and damages from global warming, as well as deriving optimum solutions; debating the appropriate role for discounting; estimating the value of information to reduce the uncertainty; and examining the issues associated with the use of two prominent policy approaches carbon taxes and transferable carbon permits. Few challenges pose a greater threat to our economic and political institutions than global warming. Uncertainty about the consequences of continued greenhouse gas emissions, the temporal and geographic separation of costs and benefits, the potentially enormous cost of making the wrong choices, and the necessity for (and the difficulties of) international cooperation all contribute to the complexity and the significance of the issue. In this book leading economists bring unusual clarity and insight to the process of understanding these challenges and meeting them with pragmatic solutions. Specific topics covered include: modeling and responding to the unique types of risks posed by global warming; estimating the costs of control and damages from discounting, estimating the value of information to reduce the uncertainty, and examining the issues associated with the use of the two most prominent policy approaches - carbon taxes and transferable carbon permits.