ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS--EC4545-001
Course Content
The study of environmental economics is interesting, thought-provoking,
and controversial. This is both a strength and a weakness; the strength
is that the inherently interesting nature of the subject matter results
in greater student interest and involvement than might be the case for
many of the other fields in economics. The weakness, however, is that
the emotionally-charged nature of the topic tends to lead to fuzzy
thinking--indeed, there is ample evidence that this problem is not
unique to the academic setting; many of the worst examples of
government spending and legislation have stemmed from perceptions of a
"crisis," whether it is an energy crisis, a defense or terrorist
crisis, a health-care crisis, or whatever.
The
economist views environmental problems, like all problems, as being
"resource-allocation problems." Another way to express this is
that economists deal with choices. If a
problem is not viewed as being a matter of choice, then it is a
non-economic problem. To make a simple analogy, suppose you
believe (for religious or other moral reasons) that it is wrong to
steal, cheat or kill--for you this is not "a matter of choice;" it is
not "something to decide upon." Economists also have
various beliefs, but in their role as an economist, such issues are
viewed as choices, something to decide about on the basis of benefits
and costs. Depending on our individual beliefs, the costs may be
high relative to benefits, or they may be low. If, however, costs
are higher than benefits, and we abstain from stealing or cheating or
killing, we are doing so--from the economist's perspective--as a matter
of choice (informed by our moral and other beliefs). But, while
the observed behavior might look similar, this is quite different from
arguing that there is no choice for such decisions. Some of you
may recycle as much as you can because you believe it is the "right"
thing to do, independently of personal costs and benefits; others of
you hardly recycle at all feeling that the costs are greater than the
benefits.
We begin with some
basic economic and philosophical concepts as they relate to the
environment. We then turn to an in-depth treatment of how the economic
system interacts with the environmental system. The analysis will
build from a fairly simple model, adding layers of complexity until its
relevance to environmental policy-making becomes clear.
Text:
Environmental Economics: An Integrated Approach. Boca Raton/London/New York: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014, 264 pp.Administrative Matters:
There will be two midterms (30% each) and the final (40%). The test format is likely to be multiple choice--but this is dependent on how large the class is. If that proves to be the case, there are sample exams available at the links associated with the EC3545 course that will give you a sense of the nature of these tests. I will calculate your course grade as the largest number arising from the following alternative calculated scores:
"Score 1": .3(1st Mid Grade) + .3(2nd Mid Grade) + .4(Final Grade)
"Score 2": .4(2nd Mid Grade) + .6(Final Grade)
"Score 3": .4(1st Mid Grade) + .6(Final Grade)
That is, you can mess up either midterm (or miss one--there are no makeups for
either midterm) without harming your grade--however, the final is fully
comprehensive, so you will be responsible for the information from both
midterms on that exam. Moreover, I will add enough points to each
exam to have the average grade be a 78 (on the border of C+/B-)...that
is, if the raw mean is, say, 72, then 6 points will be added to
everyone's exam--if you got a 96 raw grade, that grade becomes
102. After that adjustment, 90-100 will be A, 80-90 B, 70-80 C,
60-70 D, and below 60 F, with the usual pluses and minuses if you are
within two points of the various cutoffs.
I will let the top 5% or so of students, based on the first two
midterms, out of the final, an incentive to really learn the
material--moreover this is good, as well, for those who do not get out
of the final because its average will be lower, hence more points get
added. Allowing some students to get out of the final results in
the midterms coming later in the semester than is usual, so that more
of the material is tested upon. The Comprehensive Final Exam is Tuesday May 7th, 4:30pm to 7:00pm in our classroom.
Note that if you have three exams in a day, it is the third exam that
university policy allows you to reschedule, so this is likely to be a
problem for this course this semester. The Economics Department
has recently instituted some grade changes that have made it extremely difficult
to give incompletes. The grade of IW has been completely
eliminated, and the grade of IF is only given when circumstances
completely beyond student control result in inability to complete the
course requirements. Such cases must be brought to my attention
immediately, otherwise a grade of F will be assigned.
Office: Economics 223 (Northwest corner, 2nd floor of the Economics Bldg)
Hours:
MWF 11:00am-12:00 noon and MWF 3:00-3:30 pm (also after class and by
appointment at many other hours, if there are schedule conflicts).
Phone:
(303) 492-7021 (message machine-but I am not usually in the office on a
daily basis). The best, recommended, approach to contact me:
e-mail: philip.graves@colorado.edu or philipegraves@gmail.com (e-mail definitely preferred route of communication--I'm online daily usually 24/7 and at odd hours).