Economic analysis of what to do about climate change has sometimes been described as an economist's nightmare. In this lecture, Dr Weitzman tries to explain why this particular application of cost-benefit analysis is more difficult than other, more ordinary, applications - and what it might mean.
The audience should come away with an appreciation for why the economics of climate change is so controversial and why economics is unlikely to come up with crisp sharp answers about what exactly to do about it.
Biography
Martin L. Weitzman is Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Previously he was on the faculties of MIT and Yale. He has been elected as a fellow of the Econometric Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has published widely in many leading economic journals and written two books. Dr Weitzman's interests in economics are broad and he has served as consultant for several well-known organisations.
His current research is focused on environmental economics, including climate change, the economics of catastrophes, cost-benefit analysis, long-run discounting, green accounting, biodiversity, and comparison of alternative instruments for controlling pollution.