ECONOMICS 1370
ECONOMICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Semester:
Spring 2010
Instructor: George Berger
Office: 123 Krebs
Phone: 269-2982/2990 or 2991
Office Hours: MWF 2-3, TH 2:00-3:30 or by appointment
I. TEXTs:
Tietenberg, Environmental Economics
and Policy, 6th Edition, 2010.
George Berger, Supplementary
II.
ORGANIZATION OF COURSE
A. Introduction: Basic Economic Principles
1. Basic Concepts
(No Text
2. Institutional Framework: Property
Rights Analysis
TEXT (8)
Chapter 4: Property Rights, Externalities,
and Environmental Problems, pp. 64-65, 73-74, 80-81, and 86-87.
Chapter 2: Valuing the Environment:
Concepts, pp, 23-25
SUPPLEMENTARY
a. Nigel Ashford, “Spontaneous Order,” The
Freeman, July 1999, pp. 37-40
a.
b. Robert J. Smith, "
3. Economics of Externalities
TEXT (14)
Chapter 2: Valuing
the Environment: Concepts, pp. 19-24
Chapter 4:
Property Rights, Externalities, and Environmental Problems, pp. 67-72,
84-85.
Chapter 14:
Environmental Economics: An Overview, pp. 301-14
SUPPLEMENTARY
a. Roy Cordato,
“The Impossibility of Harming the Environment,” The Freeman, May 2002,
52:5, pp. 15-17.
b. Roger Meiners and Bruce Yandle,
"The Common Law: How It Protects the Environment" PERC
Policy Series #13, pp. 1-20.
c. Michael De Alessi,
“Wildlife Enrichment and Oil Exploration: A 2-for-1 Deal at the Welder Wildlife
Refuge,” Tech Central Station, May 15, 2001, 3 pps.
d. Dwight Lee, “To Drill or Not to Drill,” The
Independent Review, 6:2, Fall 2001, pp. 217-25.
e. Robert W. Crandall, "Clean Air and
Regional Protectionism," The Brookings Review, Fall 1983, pp.
17-20.
f. Richard Stroup
and Jane Shaw, "Environmental Harms from Federal Government Policy,"
in Roger Meiners and Bruce Yandle,
eds., Taking the Environment Seriously, Rowman
and Littlefield Publishers, 1993, pp. 51-70.
g. Peter J. Hill, "Environmental
Problems under Socialism," Cato Journal, 12:2, Fall 1992, pp.
321-33.
h. Institute for Energy Research, “Carbon
Taxes: Reducing Economic Growth-Achieving No Environmental Improvement” March
11, 2209, pp. 1-6
i. Kenneth Green, Steven Hayward and Kevin Hassett, “Climate Change: Caps versus Taxes,” Energy and Environment
Outlook No. 2, June 2007, pp. 1-6
j. Kenneth Green, “Climate Policy: What’s
Best—Emission Reduction or Adaptation and Sequestration,” AEI Environmental
Policy Outlook No. 4, October 2006, 5 pp.
4. Natural
Resources: An Overview
TEXT (10)
Chapter 7:
Natural Resource Economics: An Overview, pp. 128-37.
SUPPLEMENTARY
a. Ronald Bailey, "The Progress Explosion:
Permanently Escaping the Malthusian Trap," Earth Report 2000,
edited by Ronald Bailey, Competitive Enterprise Institute, pp. 3-21
b. David Osterfeld, "Chapter 4: Resources," Prosperity
versus Planning: How Government Stifles Economic Growth,
c.
Daniel K Benjamin, “Eight Great Myths of
Recycling,” PERC Policy Series # 28, September 2003, pp. 10-26
EXAM 1
B. Topics
1. Oil and
Renewable Energy
TEXT (25)
Chapter 8:
Energy, pp. 140-42, 145-58, 164-71
SUPPLEMENTARY
a. David Henderson, "Do We Need to Go
to War for Oil?" Cato Institute Foreign Policy Briefing
No. 4, October 24, 1990, pp. 1-5.
b. Morris Adelman, “The Real Oil Problem,” Regulation
, Spring 2004, pp. 16-21.
c. David Deming, "Are We Running Out
of Oil?" Policy Backgrounder No. 159,
d. John McCormack, “Market Protection Against Another
Oil Shock," Regulation, 19:1, 3 pp.
e. Vaclav Smil. “
f.
Jerry Taylor and Peter
Van Doren, “Evaluating the Case for Renewable
Energy,” Policy Analysis No. 422, January 10, 2002, pp. 1-8.
2. Fisheries and Commercially Valuable Species
TEXT (25)
Chapter 13: Common-Pool
Resources: Fisheries and Other Commercially Valuable Species, pp. 273-97.
SUPPLEMENTARY
a. Donald Leal, “Saving Fisheries with
Free Markets,” The Milken Insitute Review,
First Quarter 2006, pp. 57-66.
b. Howard Baejter,
"Conservation
c. Richard Stroup, "The Endangered Species Act: Making Innocent Species
the Enemy," PERC Policy Study #3, April 1995, pp. 1-22.
3. Hazardous
Waste
TEXT (3)
Chapter 19: Managing
Waste, pp. 432, 439-40
SUPPLEMENTARY
a. Eric Zuesse,
"
b. Richard Stroup, "Superfund
versus Environmental Progress: Explaining a Disaster" Institute for
Research on the Economics of Taxation, Studies in Social Cost, Regulation, and
the Environment, No. 7, 2001, 17 pp.
c. Class Discussion Only: Aaron Wildavsky, "
C. Overview
1. Sustainable
Development
TEXT (33)
Chapter 5:
Sustainable Development: Defining the Concept, pp. 95-96, 98-101.
Chapter 21: The
Quest for Sustainable Development, pp. 477-87, 490-505.
SUPPLEMENTARY
a. Jerry Taylor, "Sustainable Development: A
Dubious Solution In Search of a Problem," Policy Analysis No. 449,
August 26, 2002, pp. 1-21.
b. Richard Stroup, " Political Control
versus Sustainable Development," PERC Resource Book on Pollution,
Trade, and Aid, August 1992, pp. 31-39.
c. Bruce Yandle,
“Environmental Turning Points, Institutions and the Race to the Top,” The
Independent Review, 9:2 (Fall 2004), pp. 211-26.
d. Students whose last name start with A
through K should read the two articles in option (1) while students whose last
names start with L through Z should read the article in option (2)
(1) Andrei Illarionov, “A Few Notes on Climate Change,” Cato@Liberty Blog, December 11, 2009, 9 pp. and Kenneth Green, “Climate Change: The Resilience
Option,” Energy and Environment Outlook, No. 4 October 2009, 9 pp.
(2) Robert G McCormick, “The Relation Between Net Carbon Emissions
and Income,” in You Have to Admit It’s Getting Better, edited by Terry
Anderson, Hoover Institution Press, 2004, pp. 173-98.
EXAM 2
OBJECTIVES OF
THE COURSE
1. Learn the
basic concepts of economics. (Students who master these concepts will earn a C
in this course.)
2. Learn how to connect the basic concepts
of economics to one another in chains of reasoning. (Students who master the
basic concepts and learn how to connect some of these concepts together will
earn a B in this course.)
3. Learn how to apply economic reasoning
to real world cases. (Students who master the basic
concepts, learn how to connect most of these concepts together, and learn how
to apply these concepts to real world cases will earn an A.)
EXPECTATIONS
1. I expect
students to read assigned text material BEFORE coming to lecture. That way,
students will be familiar with the ideas presented in lecture and will take
better class notes as a result.
2. I expect students to memorize the
assigned definitions. But please note that I do not ask students just to
memorize but also to understand the definitions. Like learning a foreign
language, students must first memorize before they can understand.
3. I expect students to be on time for
class and to be courteous in their behavior at all times in the classroom.
III. GRADES
1. The total number of points in the
course will be distributed as follows:
Exam 1 100
Exam 2 100
Total 200
While I cannot
specify what number of points equals an A, what number of points equals a B,
etc., I will indicate these grades as the semester
progresses.
2. Your grade can be calculated as
follows: (1) Assume you earned a 73 on the first exam. Assume that all scores
that fall into the range 70-79 are Cs and all scores that fall into the range
80-89 are Bs. (2) Assume you earned an 83 on the second exam. Assume that all
scores that fall into the range 80-89 are Bs. Your total number of points
earned after the second exam add to 156. What is your letter grade? Add
together the minimum scores for a B which in this case is 160 points. Since
your point total is less than the minimum score to earn a B, you have a C+ in
the course after the second exam. (NOTE: The ranges used in this example are
not necessarily the ranges that I will use during the course of the semester.)
3. The Homework Problem Set is available
to students on my website. Answers to the Homework Problem Set are also posted on my
website. PLEASE NOTE THAT EXAM QUESTIONS WILL BE DIFFERENT FROM THE HOMEWORK
PROBLEMS; but if you have worked on the latter, you should be able to answer
the former.
4. Exams are NOT cumulative but cover only
the material after the previous exam.
5. All exams will be a combination of
definitions and essay questions. A typical test will include 10 definitions (30
points) and approximately 3 essay questions usually with two or three parts (75
points). These exams will draw on material selected from the definition sheets,
assigned homework exercises, and supplementary readings. Extra credit questions
will be included on all exams. This is the only place extra credit can be done.
6. Exams will be given in two stages. In
the first stage, students must match the appropriate word to the correct
definition. This must be done BY MEMORY (no notecards
allowed). In the second stage, students may consult an unlimited number of notecards to complete the essay section of the exam. NOTE:
THESE NOTECARDS MUST BE HANDWRITTEN. XEROXED OR TYPED NOTECARDS OR
NOTECARDS WITH XEROXED OR TYPED MATERIAL PASTED ON THEM ARE UNACCEPTABLE.
I WILL REQUIRE ALL STUDENTS TO TURN IN THEIR NOTECARDS TO ME AFTER THE EXAM.
THAT MEANS YOUR NAME MUST APPEAR ON EACH NOTECARD YOU USE. IF
I DISCOVER THAT SOMEONE HAS USED XEROXED OR TYPED NOTECARDS THAT PERSON WILL
RECEIVE A ZERO ON THE EXAM.
7. Exam 1 will have very tight time
constraints so you must be prepared to deal with them. This means writing short
summaries of the supplementary reading articles and homework questions; these
summaries should answer all of the questions asked on the appropriate question
sheets and summarize key ideas in solving particular homework problems.
8. Exam dates will be:
Exam 1 – Feb 19
(approximately)
Exam 2 –
Exam 2 must be
taken on the assigned day. Exceptions will be allowed only if students provide
evidence of two other exams on the scheduled date.
9. Make-up exams will be given very
selectively during the semester. Those students with documented excuses
for missing any exam should schedule a make-up ASAP. Make-ups will not be given
after exams have been returned. NOTE-THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE MUST BE USED
IN ORDER TO DOCUMENT YOUR ABSENCE: IF YOU ARE GOING TO MISS AN EXAM BECAUSE OF
A MEDICAL OR PERSONAL EMERGENCY, YOU MUST CONTACT ME ON OR BEF0RE THE
EXAM DATE. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THIS PROCEDURE WILL RESULT IN A ZERO ON AN
EXAM (REGARDLESS OF THE NATURE OF THE EXCUSE). THE INSTRUCTOR RESERVES
THE RIGHT TO GIVE A TOUGHER EXAM FOR AN INADEQUATE EXCUSE. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS
TO THESE POLICIES.
10. Final grades will be assigned using
+'s and -'s where appropriate.
11. Class attendance is mandatory.
Students may miss FOUR classes without penalty. HOWEVER, EVERY CLASS MISSED
AFTER THOSE WILL
BE PENALIZED THREE (3) POINTS FOR EACH CLASS MISSED.
12. There is a reward for class
participation. Specifically, there will be two scheduled class discussions for
each of the two parts of the course. We will discuss one or two articles each
time and use the Supplementary Reading Questions as the basis for our
discussion. Students may earn one, two or three extra credit points each time
they answer a question, depending on the quality of their answer. Students may
earn an unlimited number of extra credit points at this time.
13. Anyone caught cheating on any exam
will get a zero on that exam. This will make passing the course very
difficult. Additionally, anyone copying another person's written work and
submitting it as his own will receive a zero. (NOTE: The person
from whom it was copied will also receive a zero.)
14. FYI: DEADLINE FOR DROPPING THE
CLASS WITH A
15. If you have a disability for
which you are or may be requesting an academic accommodation for this course,
you should notify me and the Coordinator of Disability Services in the