Economics and the challenge of global warming
By: Charles S. Pearson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 231
ISBN-13: 9781107011519; 9781107649071
Subjects: Climatic changes; Economic aspects; Global warming
Description: "Economics and the Challenge of Global Warming is a balanced and comprehensive analysis of the role of economics in confronting global warming, the central environmental issue of the twenty-first century. It avoids a technical exposition in order to reach a wide audience and is up to date in its theoretical and empirical underpinnings. It is addressed to all who have some knowledge of economic concepts and a serious interest in how economics can (and cannot) help in crafting climate policy. The book is organized around three central questions. First, can benefit-cost analysis guide us in setting warming targets? Second, what strategies and policies are cost-effective? Third, and most difficult, can a global agreement be forged between rich and poor, North and South? While economic concepts are foremost in the analysis, they are placed within an accessible ethical and political matrix. The book serves as a primer for the post-Kyoto era"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Introduction and a roadmap; 1. Climate change: background information; 2. The role of cost benefit in climate policy; 3. Discounting and social weighting (aggregating over time and space); 4. Empirical results: a tasting menu; 5. Strategic responses; 6. Targets and tools; 7. Trade and global warming; 8. The challenge of international cooperation; 9. Beyond Kyoto; 10. A summing up.