Econ 4999: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment
This page is a work in progress. Things will be added and things will be deleted.
Readings, Audio, and Notes Available Online:
Note that in many of the reading I have added notes and comments directly into the pdf file
Production, Consumption and the environment
Notes on Materials Balance , E.R. Morey
Lecture on Materials Balance -E.R.Morey -.wav file
Earth as a space ship, Kenneth Boulding, 1965 for other stuff by Boulding see http://www.colorado.edu/econ/Kenneth.Boulding/
Pearce and Turner Chapter 2: The Circular Economy
NPR: New antismog restrictions will increase global warming, 01/25/2010, audio at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122626662&ps=rs
Defining ethics and environmental ethics
Notes on Moral Philosophies (theories of ethics), Morey
Lecture on Moral Philosophies (excluding Utilitarianism)- E.R. Morey - .wav file
A survey of ethical ideas and theories - VanDeVeer and Pierce
Daniel Hausman and Michael McPherson, Taking Ethics Seriously: Economics and Contemporary Moral Philosophy, Journal of Economic Literature Vol XXXI (June 1993) 671-731- this article has something in it that pertains to your essay. You will want to read the sections relevant to your essay.
Good Natured - The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals, Frans de Waal, a primatologist looks a human nature
30 Seconds on John Rawls and the Theory of Justice
Nicholas Wade, NYT 09182007, Is 'Do good unto others' written into our genes
Steven Pinker, The Moral Instinct, Steven Pinker, NYT 01132008
Morality (Radio Lab: Friday, 06 July 2007): Where does our sense of right and wrong come from? We peer inside the brains of people contemplating moral dilemmas, watch chimps at a primate research center share blackberries, observe a playgroup of 3 year-olds fighting over toys, and tour the country - Audio mp3 file
So-called life (Radio Lab: 4/7/2008 ): What are the consequences when humans start playing with life? The human imagination has always dreamed up fantastic creatures, but now biotechnology is making it easier and easier for us to actually create forms of life that have never existed before - Audio mp3 file. This program goes to the question of what is natural and the difference between humans and other animals.
Philosophy Bites: Brad Hooker on Consequentialism, Audio file mp3
Philosphy Bites (8/27/2007): Are moral choices simply relative, a matter of culture or taste? Are genuine moral disagreements possible? Should we just tolerate different ways that people choose to live? Warburton interviews Simon Blackburn on these important questions -Audio file mp3. Simon Blackburn think relativiism, a philopshy we considered, is a cope out.
Benedict Carey, Smartening Up: Brain Enhancement is wrong, right: NYT 03092008
The foundations of welfare economics in general and environmental economics in particular
Notes Good Sex is like Efficiency: more is better, except when its not, E.R. Morey
Lecture: Good Sex is like Efficiency: more is better, except when its not, E.R. Morey - mp3 file
A survey of ethical ideas and theories - VanDeVeer and Pierce - the sections on Utililitarianism and Utilitarianism and Economics
Pearce and Turner Chapter 15: ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
Happiness and welfare economics
Happiness is a warm gun, The Beatles
Notes: Happiness is a warm gun, or so said the Beatles, E.R. Morey
The Futile Pursuit of Happiness, Jon Gertner, NYT, September 7, 2003 (this article discusses the work of some economists and psychologists who study happiness)
Consumer theory in a nutshell, E.R. Morey
Controvery: Economics and Happiness, H.D. Dixon, editorial note in the Economic Journal, 1997
Happiness and Economic Performance, Andrew Oswald, Economic Journal, 1997
The Frame of Reference as a Public Good, Robert H. Frank, Economic Journal, 1997 (what if happiness is determined by one's relative income rather than one's absolute income?)
Assume the Positional: Comment on Robert Frank, Andrew Kashdan and Caniel Klein, Journal Watch, 2006, a negative critique of Frank on positionality.
A happiness index with a long reach, Alexander Stille, NYT, May 20, 2000 (article on how different groups are trying to develop indices of well-being/happiness)
Life is too precious to be enjoyed, Sarah Freeburg, The Onion: February 20, 2006 | Issue 42•08
Choice (Radio Lab, a podcast, 11/17/2008 ): Audio mp3 file. How choice is influenced and who is making the choice
Melissa Lane on Rousseau (Philosophy Bites, a podcast, 7/6/2008): Audio mp3file. Civilization is for most people synonymous with progress. Not for the eighteenth century thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau believed that progress causes us to outwant our neighbors and this causes unhappiness.
Behavioral Economics
Dieting? put your money where your fat is, Pamela Weiler Grayson, February 5, 2009 - contribute money to something you hate if you don't lose weight
Labor, Leisure and the Environment
French Family Values, Paul Krugman, NYT, July 29, 2005
Buhhist Economics, E.F. Schumacher, Resurgance, Vol. 1, No. 11, 1968. provides a an interesting, and non-western take, on work vs. leisure.
In recession Americans doing more and buying less, Damien Cave, NYT, January 3, 2010
A slowdown that may slow us down, Shaila Dewan, NYT, March 1, 2009
Are bad times healthy, Tara Parker-Pope, NYT, October 7, 2008
The ethics and economics of globalization (trade, culture, developement, language, environment, and outsourcing)
Vive LaDolce Vita, Roger Cohen, NYT, April 18,2006 - the affect of globalization on the Italian way of life.
Political Clout in the Age of Outsourcing, David Leonhardt, NYT, April 19, 2006 - radiologists in India reading your x-rays?
include the IMF report on globalization
mine the two student essays on globalization
Aldo Leopold: a new environmental ethic
An excerpt from the Land Ethic, Aldo Leopold, 1949
Animals and society
(even if you don't care about animals one way or another, these reading raise important issues about who is and who is not a member of society and the implications of the choices we make)
The Ethicist: A Dog's Death; Randy Cohen, NYY, September 25, 2005 - who is a member of society?
A paragraph from the novel Saturday by Ian McEwan - even fish feel pain?
An Animal's Place, Michael Pollan, NYT magazine, November 10, 2002 - animal rights, animal welfare, suffereing, eating meat and Peter Singer
An excerp from Practical Ethics 1993 Peter Singer
Some quotes from the Bible concerning the relationship between man and animals The Bible (King James Version) - Genesis - put simply, plants and animals are here for the benefit of people
Animals as property; Gary Francione, Animal Law i (1996) - the legal rights of animals
The Animal Rights Law Project at Rutgers University
Selected Internet Resources on the Moral Status of Animals
Zoo Keeper's Dilemma (Radio Lab 1/14/2008): You've heard of the tortured artist. The tortured poet. Did you ever think about the tortured zoo director? It's tough work being the steward of animals while at the same time being their captor. David Hancocks, a former zoo director, tells us, Audio file mp3
So-called life (Radio Lab: 4/7/2008 ): What are the consequences when humans start playing with life? The human imagination has always dreamed up fantastic creatures, but now biotechnology is making it easier and easier for us to actually create forms of life that have never existed before - Audio mp3 file. This program goes to the question of what is natural and the difference between humans and other animals.
mine Jeb's essay for readings, maybe put his essay here
Ecological Balance
The Killer From Louisiana, on the Loose in Italy, Frank Bruni, NYT, May 19, 2003 - Lousiana crawfish destroy the ecological balance in a lake in Tuscany
Religion and the environment
When Cleaner Air Is a Biblical Obligation, Michael Janofsky, NYT, November 7, 2005
Introduction to the Economics of Religion, Journal of Economic Perspectives, September 1998, 1465-1496 - pay particular attention to the section on the consequence of religion
Buhhist Economics, E.F. Schumacher, Resurgance, Vol. 1, No. 11, 1968.
Civil action and the environment (torte ("mistakes")law as a correction for enviromental market failures?)
Cleaning up after Exxon, Jennifer Bogo, NYT: In Brief, 1999 - Exxon settled their lawsuits with the State of Alaska and the Federal Government for $900 million
Settlement in DuPont Water Suit, Michael Janofsky, NYT, September 10, 2004 - a pollutant directly tied to drinking water
In New Tactic, State Aims to Sue Utilities Over Coal Pollution, Andrew Revkin, NYT, September 15, 1999 - New York State sues 17 power plants for not upgrading their pollution control equipment.
Environmental justice (race, income, and the environment)
mine the student essays on environmental justice.
The economics of business ethics
there is a course of readings in business ethics at Harvard Business School that was discussed on NPR.
Global Warming
There are many articles out there about global warming. For the most recent ones in the NYTimes go to the NYTimes web site and seach under "global warming" or -"global warming" and economists-. The NYTimes has a whole archive on global warming. Do not limit the search to today's paper, and make sure you are searching the "site" rather than the site of one of their advertisers (e.g. Barnes and Noble)
Some of the interesting articles I found at the NYT and other places include:
The Cost of Combating Global Warming, Thomas Schelling, Foreign Affairs, Nov-Dec 1997
Blair Outlines Plans to Slash Emissions Over 50 Years, NYT, Feb 25, 2003
7 States to Sue E.P.A. Over Standards on Air Pollution, NYT Feb 21, 2003
Can Global Warming Be Studied Too Much? NYT Dec 3, 2002
McCain and Lieberman Offer Bill to Require Cuts in Gases, NYT Jan 9, 2003
As the Earth Warms, Will Companies Pay? NYT August 18,2002
The Selling of an Energy Policy By AL GORE, NYT April 21, 2002
Bush Offers Plan for Voluntary Measures to Limit Gas Emissions, NYT Feb 15, 2003
Bush Plan Expected To Slow, Not Halt, Gas Emission Rise, NYT Feb 2002, Feb 16, 2003
Clinton's November 11, 2000 webcast address on global warming
Clinton Seeks to Regulate Common Gas to Clean Air -NYT Nov 12, 2000
Canada's 'Gentle Giants' Await Vanishing Winter-NYT Nov 12, 2000
US Signs Pact to Reduce Gases tied to Warming - NYT Nov 13, 1998
How fast to cut back: two view - NYT Nov, 28 1997 - this article quotes economists
Who Cares About a Few Degrees - NYT Nov 27, 1997
Experts on Climate Change Ponder: How Urgent is It? -NTY September 9, 1997
Cushioning the Shock of Global Warming - NYT Nov 30,1997
Clinton and Global Warming: Struggling to Scare a Contented World - NYT September 28, 1997
Some Readings on Discounting and Present Value
check out discounting, present value and interest rates in you math-econ text
Time and Money: Discounting's Problematic Allure by Paul Portney, Resources, Summer 1999.
Extinction: economic issues
For other recent articles in the NYTimes go to the NYTimes web site and seach under terms such as "extinction", "salmon", "linx", etc. Do not limit the search to today's paper, and make sure you are searching the "site" rather than the site of one of their advertisers (e.g. Barnes and Noble). If you choose to purchase an article from the NYT Archives it will cost a couple of bucks, it will cost a couple of bucks, articles from today's paper can be downloaded for free.
The endagered species act gets a makeover: NYT June 2, 1998.
Preserving natural environments
Rare Alliance in the Rockies Strives to Save Open Space: NYT August 14, 1998
U.S. Hopes to Buy Picture-Perfect Slice of the West: NYT August 25, 1998
Victims of War: The Jungle Gorillas and Tourism: NYT March 31, 1999
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Last Update: 04-07-2010 visitors since January 2006.