Warming the World : Economic Models of Global Warming

Rating:
Summary: Replace assumption with knowledge.
Review: The author assumes as factual the uses of ozone eating chemicals and destruction wrought by emissions of trace gases. Hence the possibility opens up to discuss the tremendously complex ways in which the problems need to be addressed. It will come as a complete surprise to both the author and the unsuspecting reader that there are no problems which need such complex and costly remedies. There is no gain in sacrificing the public's wealth on avoiding risks which do not exist. All the money spent contributes to is the material well-being of those involved in addressing the man-made catastrophe predictions. This volume is long on words and short on intellectual honesty.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent cutting edge book on a vital issue.
Review: The scientific community has developed an overwhelming concensus that global warming is occuring, and is caused at least in part by human activity. William Nordhaus has led the way in studying the potential economic cosequences of global warming, and this book should be considered essential reading for those who are more than a little interested in topic (and shouldn't we all be?). Nordhaus describes past work on the economic costs of global warming, uses a summing-up approach to arrive at estimates of damage costs for greenhouse gas emissions, then compares these results to abatement cost estimates for various policy options. This allows cost-benefit analysis to inform the reader and policymakers about the economic effectiveness of different responses to the problem of global warming.

While some people may question the doom-and-gloom scenarios of activists on this issue, the general criticism leveled by economists critiquing Nordhaus' past work is that he has been, if anything, too conservative in his approach and his assumptions. In the present work, Nordhaus has reduced the rate of discounting for more distant future economic values, increased the range of costs considered, and increased the complexity of his model, thereby strengthening the results of his analysis.

The ideal reader for this book will have some background in economics and statistical analysis, allowing him to fully appreciate the quality of Nordhaus' work, but readers less schooled in these disciplines will be able to glean much valuable information from Nordhaus' approachable descriptions of the problem, the analysis, and the conclusions. Again, William Nordhaus is the acknowledged leader in researching costs of global warming. "Warming the World: Economic Models of Global Warming" should find its way to college classrooms and private bookshelves alike.