Lessons from the Great Recession


Book Description

This volume examines global cases of environmental sustainability and economics in the context of nations from multi-disciplinary perspectives. This book analyses the problems faced globally as economies try to build a sustainable future in the aftermath of the 'Great Recession', and the recent economic and financial crises.




Lessons from the Great Recession


Book Description

Annotation This volume examines global cases of environmental sustainability and economics in the context of nations from multi-disciplinary perspectives. It analyses the problems faced globally as economies try to build a sustainable future in the aftermath of the 'great recession', and the recent economic and financial crisis.




Good Economics for Hard Times


Book Description

The winners of the Nobel Prize show how economics, when done right, can help us solve the thorniest social and political problems of our day. Figuring out how to deal with today's critical economic problems is perhaps the great challenge of our time. Much greater than space travel or perhaps even the next revolutionary medical breakthrough, what is at stake is the whole idea of the good life as we have known it. Immigration and inequality, globalization and technological disruption, slowing growth and accelerating climate change--these are sources of great anxiety across the world, from New Delhi and Dakar to Paris and Washington, DC. The resources to address these challenges are there--what we lack are ideas that will help us jump the wall of disagreement and distrust that divides us. If we succeed, history will remember our era with gratitude; if we fail, the potential losses are incalculable. In this revolutionary book, renowned MIT economists Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo take on this challenge, building on cutting-edge research in economics explained with lucidity and grace. Original, provocative, and urgent, Good Economics for Hard Times makes a persuasive case for an intelligent interventionism and a society built on compassion and respect. It is an extraordinary achievement, one that shines a light to help us appreciate and understand our precariously balanced world.




Economic Hard Times and Environmental Policy


Book Description

Despite other presidents who preceded President Obama and who responded somewhat to global climate change, environmentalists look to Barack Obama as a president who might make a real difference regarding global warming. This was particularly so given Obama's campaign statement that this would be a number one priority of his once in office. In this study we compared Barack Obama's first year efforts in responding to global warming with those of George W. Bush, his immediate predecessor, in his first year. To do so we assessed each president in terms of political communication, legislative leadership, administrative actions, and environmental diplomacy. We found a marked difference in political rhetoric between the two with Bush being much more willing to mislead the public regarding climate change, whereas Obama was much more likely to argue that change was needed due to the threat posed by increasing greenhouse gases particularly during the first few months in office.The presidents' relationship with the Congress was also very different that first year with Bush having a very supportive Republican Congress supporting his lack of desire to do much regarding the environment, while Obama, who also had a Democratic-majority in Congress, nevertheless faced a skeptical Congress when it came to his desire to see cap-and-trade legislation that would regulate climate change emissions. Despite Obama's declaration during his campaign that global climate change would be an a number one priority on his agenda, economic hard times, the wars abroad, severe partisanship, an unsupportive public, and an unwillingness to aggressively engage the Congress on this issue have taken their toll on the president shifting climate change from that priority position.




The Economics of the Global Environment


Book Description

This is the first book combining research on the Global Environment, Catastrophic Risks and Economic Theory and Policy. Modern economic theory originated in the middle of the twentieth century when industrial expansion coupled with population growth led to a voracious use of natural resources and global environmental concerns. It is uncontested that, for the first time in recorded history, humans dominate the planet, changing the planet's atmosphere, its bodies of water, and the complex web of species that makes life on earth. This radical change in circumstances led to rethinking of the foundations of human organization and, in particular, the industrial economy and the economic theory behind it. This book brings together new approaches on multiple levels: environmental sustainability requires rethinking in terms of economic theory and policy as well as the considerations of catastrophic risk and extremal events. Leading experts address questions of economic governance, risk management, policy decision making and distribution across time and space.




Sustainable Politics and the Crisis of the Peripheries


Book Description

Examines the impact of the economic crisis on peripheral European states such as Ireland and Greece. This book focuses on governance, sustainable politics and environmental policies, within the context of accelerated growth and the subsequent economic downturn. It also examines issues of governance and politics within these peripheral states.




Economics and Policy of Energy and Environmental Sustainability


Book Description

This book explores the linkages among economic development, energy, and environment. An increase in economic activity is correlated with a higher level of energy consumption, which in turn leads to an increase in environmental pollution. Due to the influence of greenhouse gases, the higher the concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere, the higher the temperature, which ultimately leads to climate change. Under these imminent dangers, the role of economic and energy efficiency policies becomes important for ecological sustainability. The present policies, however, in various instances, have failed to address these issues. Hence, this book embarks not only to suggest modifications to improve the efficacy of the current policies but also to recommend to the policymakers, new and more effective policies for their respective countries. The book is bifurcated into two sections: The Economics and Policy of Sustainable Energy section discusses renewable energy policy responses to observed Impact of climate change using DPSIR Framework; the energy utilization strategies for transportation and commercial activities of Charland Bangladesh; the relationship of market globalization with the Indian energy sector; the socioecological effects of globalization from an energy perspective brought to a local standpoint; the seasonal disaster-induced energy consumption strategies of the char-dwellers of Bangladesh with respect to their domestic chores and agricultural activities; trends in GDP growth and energy usage in India; cross-border trade of electricity; and the events that the oil and gas industry has already faced and possible strategies it can adopt to overcome the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Economics and Policy of Environmental Sustainability section analyses topics such as the role of hyper-globalization in spreading the pandemic across countries as threat to human ecology; the current scenario of environmental consequences, and future prospects of plastic pollution; the surface air temperature anomalies over selected countries of Africa; the impaired roles of the female gender in community natural resource exploitation in Ndop; the operational expansion strategies for garnering better output in terms of livelihood and conservation; opportunity for environmental justice and rethinking global community; linking indigenous traditional knowledge and sustainable development goals in the North-Western Himalayas; and recommendations to manage dry forest carbon stock. This book is a rich resource for policymakers, guiding them through untraveled pathways. Moreover, it is an extremely helpful resource for researchers, practitioners, industry professionals as well as students in the fields of energy, environment, and sustainable development with flavour of economics and policy.




Sustainable Development: Concepts, Rationalities and Strategies


Book Description

3 decision support techniques that do not depend exclusively on market incentives and monetary valuation. The World Conservation Strategy published by the mCN (1980) recognised the full dimensions of these problems, and introduced the concept of sustainable development, placing the emphasis on the exploitation of natural systems and the use of biological natural resources within limits so that the availability of these resources for use by future generations would not be jeopardised by the current use of them. At this time, the imposition of quotas and the definition of critical loads and environmental standards were suggested as the sorts of instruments necessary to cope with the problems of limited availability of environmental resources. Although the mCN publication did not obtain a high international profile, the idea of policy norms to respect critical loads has become quite widely accepted in the environmental policymaking of Western countries. This has often put the policy agencies in difficult situations. Polluting industries are inclined to argue that the critical loads are defined too restrictively. The complexity and time lags of ecological effects makes it hard to say exactly what constitutes a critical load beyond which there will be irreversible damage, and lobbying interests can play on these uncertainties to try and weaken the environmental standards. In addition, polluting industries can use the argument of negative impacts on "the economy" (particularly as regards employment and export prospects) to blackmail governments, regulatory agencies and the general public.




Economic Reform and Environmental Performance in Transition Economies


Book Description

..".transition has proved to be a much longer and more difficult process than most had anticipated, and progress has varied. By 1998 only one country, Poland (which embarked on economic reform before the rest of the region), had reestablished sustained economic growth and surpassed the pretransition level of real gross domestic product (GDP)." - From 'Economic Reform and Environmental Performance in Transition Economies' Most global economy and environmental watchers expect the transition to a market economy to yield environmental benefits. The changing incentives that a market economy introduces should foster more efficient production, better use of resources, and increased community input. The advanced reformers of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries proved this to be the case. They improved energy efficiency and reduced emissions intensity of pollutants. The slower-reforming countries of the Newly Independent States (NIS) also experienced lower pollution. However, that downturn coincided with the economic decline, which shut down many major polluters. This report reviews progress in environmental trends since transition began. It looks at air and water pollution and health indicators in the trends and in light of the environmental issues identified in the Environmental Action Programme for Central and Eastern Europe. It continues and builds on the World Bank's work in analyzing the environmental effects of transition, restructuring, and privatization with a view to identifying priority areas for investment and policy initiatives. The report will interest environmental policy makers and practitioners.




Assessing the Economic Impacts of Environmental Policies Evidence from a Decade of OECD Research


Book Description

Over the past decades, governments have gradually adopted more rigorous environmental policies to tackle challenges associated with pressing environmental issues, such as climate change. The ambition of these policies is, however, often tempered by their perceived negative effects on the economy.