Understanding Economic Equilibrium

CHAPTER 21

Climate Change: “Is It Hot in Here or Is It Me?” (Joan of Arc)

We’ll leave the argument over the cause or causes of climate change, the discussion of the science of climate change, and even environmental economics to the specialists who write voluminously about those subjects. However, we can address some of the implications of the impact of climate on the U.S. and global economies.

What economics does for science is provide a motive for accumulating data. Lloyds of London has data on hurricanes dating back centuries, not so much due to an interest in hurricane science but because they were insuring ships. They needed to track storms that threatened vessels so they could determine risk and premiums. As such, that discipline, a facet ...