The Green Paradox

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The Green Paradox

Author : Hans-Werner Sinn
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 287 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2012-02-03
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780262300582

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The Green Paradox by Hans-Werner Sinn Pdf

A leading economist develops a supply-side approach to fighting climate change that encourages resource owners to leave more of their fossil carbon underground. The Earth is getting warmer. Yet, as Hans-Werner Sinn points out in this provocative book, the dominant policy approach—which aims to curb consumption of fossil energy—has been ineffective. Despite policy makers' efforts to promote alternative energy, impose emission controls on cars, and enforce tough energy-efficiency standards for buildings, the relentlessly rising curve of CO2 output does not show the slightest downward turn. Some proposed solutions are downright harmful: cultivating crops to make biofuels not only contributes to global warming but also uses resources that should be devoted to feeding the world's hungry. In The Green Paradox, Sinn proposes a new, more pragmatic approach based not on regulating the demand for fossil fuels but on controlling the supply. The owners of carbon resources, Sinn explains, are pre-empting future regulation by accelerating the production of fossil energy while they can. This is the “Green Paradox”: expected future reduction in carbon consumption has the effect of accelerating climate change. Sinn suggests a supply-side solution: inducing the owners of carbon resources to leave more of their wealth underground. He proposes the swift introduction of a “Super-Kyoto” system—gathering all consumer countries into a cartel by means of a worldwide, coordinated cap-and-trade system supported by the levying of source taxes on capital income—to spoil the resource owners' appetite for financial assets. Only if we can shift our focus from local demand to worldwide supply policies for reducing carbon emissions, Sinn argues, will we have a chance of staving off climate disaster.

Climate Policy and Nonrenewable Resources

Author : Karen Pittel,Frederick van der Ploeg,Cees Withagen
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2014-08-15
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780262027885

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Climate Policy and Nonrenewable Resources by Karen Pittel,Frederick van der Ploeg,Cees Withagen Pdf

Too rapidly rising carbon taxes or the introduction of subsidies for renewable energies induce owners of fossil fuel reserves to increase their extraction rates for fear of their reserves becoming worthless. Fossil fuel use is thus brought forward. The resulting acceleration of global warming and counter-productivity of well-intended climate policy has been coined the Green Paradox. This volume presents a range of studies extending the basic analysis to allow for clean energy alternatives, dirty energy alternatives, and the intricate strategic issues between different countries on the globe.

Climate Policy and Nonrenewable Resources

Author : Karen Pittel,Rick Van Der Ploeg,Cees Withagen
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2014-08-22
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780262319843

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Climate Policy and Nonrenewable Resources by Karen Pittel,Rick Van Der Ploeg,Cees Withagen Pdf

A detailed and rigorous analysis of the effect of climate policies on climate change that questions the empirical and theoretical support for the “green paradox.” Recent developments suggest that well-intended climate policies—including carbon taxes and subsidies for renewable energy—might not accomplish what policy makers intend. Hans-Werner Sinn has described a “green paradox,” arguing that these policies could hasten global warming by encouraging owners of fossil fuel reserves to increase their extraction rates for fear that their reserves will become worthless. In this volume, economists investigate the empirical and theoretical support for the green paradox. Offering detailed and rigorous analyses of the forces and assumptions driving Sinn's argument, the contributors consider whether rising carbon tax rates inevitably speed up climate change; the effects of the design of resource markets, the availability of clean substitutes, and the development of new technologies; and the empirical evidence (or lack thereof) for the green paradox result. They consider extraction costs; sustainability and innovation; timing, announcement effects, and time consistency in relation to policy measures; and empirical results for the green paradox phenomena under several alternative policy measures. Contributors Julien Daubanes, Corrado Di Maria, Carolyn Fischer, Florian Habermacher, Michael Hoel, Darko Jus, Gebhard Kirchgassner, Ian Lange, Pierre Lasserre, Volker Meier, Karen Pittel, Stephen Salant, Frank Stähler, Gerard van der Meijden, Frederick van der Ploeg, Edwin van der Werf, Ngo Van Long, Ralph A. Winter, Cees Withagen

Paradoxes of Green

Author : Gareth Doherty
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2017-02-07
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780520285026

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Paradoxes of Green by Gareth Doherty Pdf

"This highly innovative book is a multidisciplinary study of green and its significance from multiple perspectives: aesthetic, architectural, environmental, political, and social. It is centered on the Kingdom of Bahrain, the smallest and greenest of the Arab states in the Persian Gulf, where green has a long and deep history appearing cooling, productive, and prosperous--and a radical contrast to the hot, hostile desert. As is the case with cities around the world, green is often celebrated as a counter to gray urban environments, yet green has not always been good for cities. To have the color green manifested in arid environments is often in direct conflict with 'green' from an environmental point of view; this paradox is at the heart of the book. Given the resources required to maintain green in arid areas, including cities, the provision of green often bears significant environmental costs. In arid environments such as Bahrain, this contradiction becomes extreme and even unsustainable. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork, Gareth Doherty explores the landscapes of Bahrain where green represents a plethora of implicit human values and lives in dialectical tension with other culturally and environmentally significant colors and hues. The book's six chapters focus on: Blue, Red, Date-palm Green, Grass Green, Beige, and White. Implicit in his book is the argument that concepts of color and object are mutually defining and thus a discussion about green becomes a discussion about the creation of space and place"--

The Jevons Paradox and the Myth of Resource Efficiency Improvements

Author : Blake Alcott,Mario Giampietro,Kozo Mayumi,John Polimeni
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 198 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2012-04-27
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781136553356

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The Jevons Paradox and the Myth of Resource Efficiency Improvements by Blake Alcott,Mario Giampietro,Kozo Mayumi,John Polimeni Pdf

The Jevons Paradox, which was first expressed in 1865 by William Stanley Jevons in relation to use of coal, states that an increase in efficiency in using a resource leads to increased use of that resource rather than to a reduction. This has subsequently been proved to apply not just to fossil fuels, but other resource use scenarios. For example, doubling the efficiency of food production per hectare over the last 50 years (due to the Green Revolution) did not solve the problem of hunger. The increase in efficiency increased production and worsened hunger because of the resulting increase in population. The implications of this in todays world are substantial. Many scientists and policymakers argue that future technological innovations will reduce consumption of resources; the Jevons Paradox explains why this may be a false hope. This is the first book to provide a historical overview of the Jevons Paradox, provide evidence for its existence and apply it to complex systems. Written and edited by world experts in the fields of economics, ecological economics, technology and the environment, it explains the myth of efficiency and explores its implications for resource usage (particularly oil). It is a must-read for policymakers, natural resource managers, academics and students concerned with the effects of efficiency on resource use.

What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming

Author : Per Espen Stoknes
Publisher : Chelsea Green Publishing
Page : 322 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2015
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781603585835

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What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming by Per Espen Stoknes Pdf

"Today, about 98 percent of scientists affirm that climate change is human made, and about 2 percent still question it. Despite that overwhelming majority, though, about half the population of rich countries, like ours, choose to believe the 2 percent. And, paradoxically, this large camp of deniers grows even larger as more and more alarming proof of climate change has cropped up over the last decades. This disconnect has both climate scientists and activists scratching their heads, growing anxious, and responding, usually, by repeating more facts to 'win' the argument. But, the more climate facts pile up, the greater the resistance to them grows, and the harder it becomes to enact measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare communities for the inevitable change ahead. Is humanity up to the task? It is a catch-22 that starts, says psychologist and climate expert Per Espen Stoknes, from an inadequate understanding of the way most humans think, act, and live in the world around them. With dozens of examples, he shows how to retell the story of climate change and apply communication strategies more fit for the task."--Publisher's description.

Sustainable Fossil Fuels

Author : Mark Jaccard
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 408 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2006-01-16
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1139449052

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Sustainable Fossil Fuels by Mark Jaccard Pdf

More and more people believe we must quickly wean ourselves from fossil fuels - oil, natural gas and coal - to save the planet from environmental catastrophe, wars and economic collapse. In this 2006 book, Professor Jaccard argues that this view is misguided. We have the technological capability to use fossil fuels without emitting climate-threatening greenhouse gases or other pollutants. The transition from conventional oil and gas to their unconventional sources including coal for producing electricity, hydrogen and cleaner-burning fuels will decrease energy dependence on politically unstable regions. In addition, our vast fossil fuel resources will be the cheapest source of clean energy for the next century and perhaps longer, which is critical for the economic and social development of the world's poorer countries. By buying time for increasing energy efficiency, developing renewable energy technologies and making nuclear power more attractive, fossil fuels will play a key role in humanity's quest for a sustainable energy system.

The Profit Paradox

Author : Jan Eeckhout
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2022-10-25
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780691224299

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The Profit Paradox by Jan Eeckhout Pdf

A pioneering account of the surging global tide of market power—and how it stifles workers around the world In an era of technological progress and easy communication, it might seem reasonable to assume that the world’s working people have never had it so good. But wages are stagnant and prices are rising, so that everything from a bottle of beer to a prosthetic hip costs more. Economist Jan Eeckhout shows how this is due to a small number of companies exploiting an unbridled rise in market power—the ability to set prices higher than they could in a properly functioning competitive marketplace. Drawing on his own groundbreaking research and telling the stories of common workers throughout, he demonstrates how market power has suffocated the world of work, and how, without better mechanisms to ensure competition, it could lead to disastrous market corrections and political turmoil. The Profit Paradox describes how, over the past forty years, a handful of companies have reaped most of the rewards of technological advancements—acquiring rivals, securing huge profits, and creating brutally unequal outcomes for workers. Instead of passing on the benefits of better technologies to consumers through lower prices, these “superstar” companies leverage new technologies to charge even higher prices. The consequences are already immense, from unnecessarily high prices for virtually everything, to fewer startups that can compete, to rising inequality and stagnating wages for most workers, to severely limited social mobility. A provocative investigation into how market power hurts average working people, The Profit Paradox also offers concrete solutions for fixing the problem and restoring a healthy economy.

The Economics of Climate Change in Argentina

Author : Maria Elisa Belfiori,Mariano Javier Rabassa
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 150 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2021-03-22
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783030622527

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The Economics of Climate Change in Argentina by Maria Elisa Belfiori,Mariano Javier Rabassa Pdf

In this volume, the contributors discuss some of the most remarkable global warming effects in Argentina and examine policies that Latin American countries could follow to achieve their individual climate goals. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues today. However, after many years of climate negotiations, the world has failed to introduce a common global policy. Differences in countries' climate agendas have led to unsuccessful efforts. Countries willing to pursue a climate policy have sought alternative strategies to mitigate and adapt to global warming's consequences within their jurisdiction. In this context, Latin American countries' role in shaping the regional climate agenda is yet to be explored. The book covers some papers from the well-received "First Workshop on Environmental Economics and Energy" in Argentina. Using data from Argentina, the contributors analyze the effects of global warming on agricultural yields and the impact of extreme weather on human health. From a global perspective, the contributors also describe the interactions between a reduction in carbon emissions, carbon emissions intensity, and economic growth; the role that trade policies can play to reduce carbon emissions; and the paradoxes that arise from promoting renewable energies in the region. The contributors also address the relationship between sustainability and economic growth; the private sector's role in shaping policies and providing sustainable solutions; and the Latin American challenges for the next generation. The book will be of interest to policy-makers, academics, researchers, and professionals worldwide working in climate change impacts and policy. It will also appeal to a general audience interested in climate change economics, its consequences, and the steps that countries in Latin America can take to move forward.

The Paradox of Choice

Author : Barry Schwartz
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 308 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2009-10-13
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780061748998

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The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz Pdf

Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions—both big and small—have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice—from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs—has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.

Plagues and the Paradox of Progress

Author : Thomas J. Bollyky
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 277 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2019-10-01
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9780262537964

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Plagues and the Paradox of Progress by Thomas J. Bollyky Pdf

Why the news about the global decline of infectious diseases is not all good. Plagues and parasites have played a central role in world affairs, shaping the evolution of the modern state, the growth of cities, and the disparate fortunes of national economies. This book tells that story, but it is not about the resurgence of pestilence. It is the story of its decline. For the first time in recorded history, virus, bacteria, and other infectious diseases are not the leading cause of death or disability in any region of the world. People are living longer, and fewer mothers are giving birth to many children in the hopes that some might survive. And yet, the news is not all good. Recent reductions in infectious disease have not been accompanied by the same improvements in income, job opportunities, and governance that occurred with these changes in wealthier countries decades ago. There have also been unintended consequences. In this book, Thomas Bollyky explores the paradox in our fight against infectious disease: the world is getting healthier in ways that should make us worry. Bollyky interweaves a grand historical narrative about the rise and fall of plagues in human societies with contemporary case studies of the consequences. Bollyky visits Dhaka—one of the most densely populated places on the planet—to show how low-cost health tools helped enable the phenomenon of poor world megacities. He visits China and Kenya to illustrate how dramatic declines in plagues have affected national economies. Bollyky traces the role of infectious disease in the migrations from Ireland before the potato famine and to Europe from Africa and elsewhere today. Historic health achievements are remaking a world that is both worrisome and full of opportunities. Whether the peril or promise of that progress prevails, Bollyky explains, depends on what we do next. A Council on Foreign Relations Book

Development, Power, and the Environment

Author : Md Saidul Islam
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2013-06-07
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781135036256

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Development, Power, and the Environment by Md Saidul Islam Pdf

Unmasking the neoliberal paradox, this book provides a robust conceptual and theoretical synthesis of development, power and the environment. With seven case studies on global challenges such as under-development, food regime, climate change, dam building, identity politics, and security vulnerability, the book offers a new framework of a "double-risk" society for the Global South. With apparent ecological and social limits to neoliberal globalization and development, the current levels of consumption are unsustainable, inequitable, and inaccessible to the majority of humans. Power has a great role to play in this global trajectory. Though power is one of most pervasive phenomena of human society, it is probably one of the least understood concepts. The growth of transnational corporations, the dominance of world-wide financial and political institutions, and the extensive influence of media that are nearly monopolized by corporate interests are key factors shaping our global society today. In the growing concentration of power in few hands, what is apparent is a non-apparent nature of power. Understanding the interplay of power in the discourse of development is a crucial matter at a time when our planet is in peril — both environmentally and socially. This book addresses this current crucial need.

The Human Paradox

Author : Ralph Heintzman
Publisher : University of Toronto Press
Page : 836 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2022-08-31
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781487541538

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The Human Paradox by Ralph Heintzman Pdf

What is a human being? What does it mean to be human? How can you lead your life in ways that best fulfil your own nature? In The Human Paradox, Ralph Heintzman explores these vital questions and offers an exciting new vision of the nature of the human. The Human Paradox aims to counter or correct several contemporary assumptions about the nature of the human, especially the tendency of Western culture, since the seventeenth century, to identify the human with rationality and the rational mind. Using the lens of the virtues, The Human Paradox shows how rediscovering the nature of the human can help not just to understand one’s own paradoxical nature but to act in ways that are more consistent with its full reality. Offering accessible insight from both traditional and contemporary thought, The Human Paradox shows how a fuller, richer vision of the human can help address urgent contemporary problems, including the challenges of cultural and religious diversity, human migration and human rights, the role of the market, artificial intelligence, the future of democracy, and global climate change. This fresh perspective on the Western past will guide readers into what it means to be human and open new possibilities for the future.

The Prosperity Paradox

Author : Clayton M. Christensen,Efosa Ojomo,Karen Dillon
Publisher : HarperCollins
Page : 415 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2019-01-15
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780062851833

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The Prosperity Paradox by Clayton M. Christensen,Efosa Ojomo,Karen Dillon Pdf

Clayton M. Christensen, the author of such business classics as The Innovator’s Dilemma and the New York Times bestseller How Will You Measure Your Life, and co-authors Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon reveal why so many investments in economic development fail to generate sustainable prosperity, and offers a groundbreaking solution for true and lasting change. Global poverty is one of the world’s most vexing problems. For decades, we’ve assumed smart, well-intentioned people will eventually be able to change the economic trajectory of poor countries. From education to healthcare, infrastructure to eradicating corruption, too many solutions rely on trial and error. Essentially, the plan is often to identify areas that need help, flood them with resources, and hope to see change over time. But hope is not an effective strategy. Clayton M. Christensen and his co-authors reveal a paradox at the heart of our approach to solving poverty. While noble, our current solutions are not producing consistent results, and in some cases, have exacerbated the problem. At least twenty countries that have received billions of dollars’ worth of aid are poorer now. Applying the rigorous and theory-driven analysis he is known for, Christensen suggests a better way. The right kind of innovation not only builds companies—but also builds countries. The Prosperity Paradox identifies the limits of common economic development models, which tend to be top-down efforts, and offers a new framework for economic growth based on entrepreneurship and market-creating innovation. Christensen, Ojomo, and Dillon use successful examples from America’s own economic development, including Ford, Eastman Kodak, and Singer Sewing Machines, and shows how similar models have worked in other regions such as Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, Rwanda, India, Argentina, and Mexico. The ideas in this book will help companies desperate for real, long-term growth see actual, sustainable progress where they’ve failed before. But The Prosperity Paradox is more than a business book; it is a call to action for anyone who wants a fresh take for making the world a better and more prosperous place.

The Globalization Paradox

Author : Dani Rodrik
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 369 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2011-03-24
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780199603336

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The Globalization Paradox by Dani Rodrik Pdf

For a century, economists have driven forward the cause of globalization in financial institutions, labour markets, and trade. Yet there have been consistent warning signs that a global economy and free trade might not always be advantageous. Where are the pressure points? What could be done about them?Dani Rodrik examines the back-story from its seventeenth-century origins through the milestones of the gold standard, the Bretton Woods Agreement, and the Washington Consensus, to the present day. Although economic globalization has enabled unprecedented levels of prosperity in advanced countries and has been a boon to hundreds of millions of poor workers in China and elsewhere in Asia, it is a concept that rests on shaky pillars, he contends. Its long-term sustainability is not a given.The heart of Rodrik>'s argument is a fundamental 'trilemma': that we cannot simultaneously pursue democracy, national self-determination, and economic globalization. Give too much power to governments, and you have protectionism. Give markets too much freedom, and you have an unstable world economy with little social and political support from those it is supposed to help. Rodrik argues for smart globalization, not maximum globalization.