But Will the Planet Notice?: How Smart Economics Can Save the World - Brossura

Wagner, Gernot

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0809032732 ISBN 13: 9780809032730

Casa editrice: Hill & Wang, 2012

Riassunto

You are one of seven billion people on Earth. Whatever you or I do personally—eat tofu in a Hummer or hamburgers in a Prius—the planet doesn't notice. In our confrontation with climate change, species preservation, and a planet going off the cliff, it is what several billion people do that makes a difference. The solution? It isn't science, politics, or activism. It's smarter economics.

The hope of mankind, and indeed of every living thing on the planet, is now in the hands of the dismal science. Fortunately, we've been there before. Economists helped crack the acid rain problem in the 1990's (admittedly with a strong assist from a phalanx of lawyers and activists). Economists have helped get lead out of our gas, and they can explain why lobsters haven't disappeared off the coast of New England but tuna is on the verge of extinction. More disquietingly, they can take the lessons of the financial crisis and model with greater accuracy than anyone else the likelihood of environmental catastrophe, and they can help save us from global warming, if only we let them.

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Recensione

"It's always a pleasure to read a confident, funny and convincing writer who promotes counter-intuitive conclusions. If you like the idea of an environmentalist who works for one of the nation's largest environmental groups making a full-throated argument against the Endangered Species Act . . . then "But Will the Planet Notice?: How Smart Economics Can Save the World" is the book for you." --Dan Shapley, "The Daily Green" (blog) "Wagner's wry, witty prose brings rationality to an emotionally charged subject and urges us to take personal responsibility for the planet by demanding an economically sound solution to guiding market forces in the right direction, making it in our best interests to do the right thing." --"Publishers Weekly" "If you want to understand how an economist thinks about the biggest challenge our planet has ever stumbled up against, this book is an awfully good place to start!" --Bill McKibben, author of "Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet" "Idealism will not shift the choices of billions of people as effectively as self-interest. Gernot Wagner has written a lucid and enjoyable exposition of the underlying economics. We must remove the incentives to treat scarce resources as if they were free. He respects the moral principles of the idealists who want to change behavior by precept alone. But, as an economist, he knows that if we want less of anything, including pollution, we must raise its price." --Martin Wolf, "Financial Times" "This splendid book showcases why environmental economics is such an exciting field today. Who knew that an economist not named Krugman could write so well? I will buy my mom a copy." --Matthew E. Kahn, author of "Climatopolis

L'autore

Gernot Wagner is an economist at the Environmental Defense Fund. He teaches at Columbia and graduated from both Harvard and Stanford. He doesn't eat meat, doesn't drive, and knows full well the futility of his personal choices.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Hill & Wang
• Data di pubblicazione: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0809032732
• ISBN 13: 9780809032730
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 272