ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS--EC3545-001
(for non-economics majors)
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.
As you
will see, the economist views environmental problems, like most other
problems, as being "resource-allocation problems" (that is, are we
allocating our scarce resources in such a way as to get the best
combination of environmental goods and ordinary goods that we
value). 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. The preceding three sentences are far more
important--and controversial to many environmental studies majors!--
than they might seem at this point...you might wish to read them
again. To make a simple analogy, suppose you believe (for
religious or other moral reasons) that it is wrong to steal--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 (note, these benefits
and costs need not involve
dollars!). 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, 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. A perhaps more pertinent example:
some of you 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. This seemingly simple point, combined with
relentless brainwashing in favor of "the environment" beginning--these
days--in grade school, will appear over-and-over throughout the course
and makes environmental economics difficult to understand or
enjoy for some students. However, I'll do what I can to make it
enjoyable!
We begin with the application of basic
economic and philosophical concepts to an understanding of the
environment. This is followed by a relatively brief overview of
environmental quality, of the major pollutants, and of how both are
characterized. This is to give us a common environmental background. We
then turn to an in-depth treatment of how an understanding of economics
can usefully guide the analysis of environmental quality, subject to
some philosophical issues already hinted at. With this as background,
it is possible to turn to a consideration of appropriate environmental
policy. The focus is on applications vital to a voting citizenry and to
those going on to work in any area of the environment. My
ultimate goal for each of you is to have you better understand (maybe
even agree with!) how environmental problems are perceived by
decision-makers in the "real world," hence better understand the policy
approaches--good and bad--made by those decisionmakers.
Texts:
The text for this course is:
Graves, P.E. Environmental Economics: An Integrated Approach (New York: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, 2014).
Administrative Matters:
There will be two midterms (30% each) and the final (40%). The test format is, effective with the Fall 2004 semester, multiple choice--because of ever-increasing class sizes at C.U. As a consequence, some of the historical sample tests on the web will be less closely related to what you will experience than is usual, although the recent exams are more representative of those this semester. 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 an 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 plus or minus if you are within
two points of the grade 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--and good for those who don't
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 Saturday May 4, 4:30pm-7:00 PM in our regular classroom.
Note that if you have three exams in a day, it is the third exam that
university policy allows you to reschedule, so that is likely to matter
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 11:00 am-12:00 noon and 3:00 pm-3:30 pm (also by appointment at many other hours, if there are schedule conflicts).
Contact: 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).