Re: subsidies for renewable energies and the environment
On Sun, Nov 11, 2001 at 09:28:15PM +0100, Hentrich, Steffen wrote: > Nearly all countries run support policies for renewable energies to reduce > worldwide carbon dioxid emissions. But from resource economics point of view > sellers of exhaustible ressources will change to a new, lower price path if > they know prices of renewable resources (back.stop-technology). I'm with you so far. > Consequently > extraction and consumption of exhaustable resources accelerate. How did you arrive at this conclusion? It seems to me that if you lower the cost of renewable resources, that will result in less exhaustable resources being extracted, since some of the exhaustable resources that could previously be extracted profitably would now remain in the ground. Fred Foldvary wrote: > Generally, subsidies distort the allocation of resources. Pollution > imposes a social cost and if left uncompensated, is an implicit > subsidy. The optimal policy is therere to have polluters pay the > social cost (whether as a tax, negotiated fee, or tort restitution), > and leave the rest to the market, with no subsidies. Clearly that's the ideal policy, but if it's not possible to have polluters pay the social cost (which is sometimes the case), is it a good idea to subsidize less-polluting alternatives? Since that can reduce the total amount of pollution, I think the answer is yes, as long as the cost of the subsidies is lower than the benefit of reduced pollution.
RE: Taliban Tipping Game
Possibly a market for entrepreneurs selling theatrical beards... something to think on. -Original Message- From: Carl Close [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 2:40 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Taliban Tipping Game Unfortunately, if, Allah forbid, it tipped again in favor of the Tablian, no one would be able to grow his beard back quickly enough. Carl >Here is a chunk of William Saletan's analysis from Slate, It is very >supportive of Fabio's tipping interpretation. > >http://slate.msn.com/?id=2058705 > >Alex > >In the north, the Taliban's enemies failed to advance. In the south, >they failed to speak up. The American press suggested that the war had >"bogged down," that the United States had "underestimated" the Taliban, >and that the U.S.-led coalition was "falling apart." Complaints of >futility and pointless bloodshed grew into an outcry to halt the >bombing. > >Then, last Friday, Mazar-i-Sharif fell. The Taliban's aura was >punctured. In accelerating succession, other cities fell. War can't move >that fast. It takes days to move your own tanks and troops, much less to >push back the enemy's. But even in Afghanistan, the information age has >arrived. What traveled from city to city in minutes wasn't the armies of >the Northern Alliance, but the news of the Taliban's defeat. Civilians >and Taliban soldiers who had resented the regime lost their fear of it. >Those who had supported the regime lost their confidence in it. Taliban >armies didn't lose their cities in battle; they defected or fled. Each >flight or defection, in turn, provoked others. Sell, sell, sell. > >Now the rout has turned south. Pashtun warlords who refused to stand up >to the Taliban a week ago are rushing to claim pieces of its carcass. >Some Taliban troops fleeing cities are being wiped out by U.S. bombers. >Others are regrouping in the mountains, forgetting that they lack the >supply lines and popular support to win the kind of guerrilla war they >waged against the Soviets. The rest, according to today's New York Times >and Washington Post, are "fading away," "disappearing," "vanishing," >"dissipating," "becoming phantoms," and "returning to their home >villages." > >Morale matters. The army that loses self-confidence and the confidence >of its people loses the war. > >-- >Dr. Alexander Tabarrok >Vice President and Director of Research >The Independent Institute >100 Swan Way >Oakland, CA, 94621-1428 >Tel. 510-632-1366, FAX: 510-568-6040 >Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Taliban Tipping Game
Unfortunately, if, Allah forbid, it tipped again in favor of the Tablian, no one would be able to grow his beard back quickly enough. Carl >Here is a chunk of William Saletan's analysis from Slate, It is very >supportive of Fabio's tipping interpretation. > >http://slate.msn.com/?id=2058705 > >Alex > >In the north, the Taliban's enemies failed to advance. In the south, >they failed to speak up. The American press suggested that the war had >"bogged down," that the United States had "underestimated" the Taliban, >and that the U.S.-led coalition was "falling apart." Complaints of >futility and pointless bloodshed grew into an outcry to halt the >bombing. > >Then, last Friday, Mazar-i-Sharif fell. The Taliban's aura was >punctured. In accelerating succession, other cities fell. War can't move >that fast. It takes days to move your own tanks and troops, much less to >push back the enemy's. But even in Afghanistan, the information age has >arrived. What traveled from city to city in minutes wasn't the armies of >the Northern Alliance, but the news of the Taliban's defeat. Civilians >and Taliban soldiers who had resented the regime lost their fear of it. >Those who had supported the regime lost their confidence in it. Taliban >armies didn't lose their cities in battle; they defected or fled. Each >flight or defection, in turn, provoked others. Sell, sell, sell. > >Now the rout has turned south. Pashtun warlords who refused to stand up >to the Taliban a week ago are rushing to claim pieces of its carcass. >Some Taliban troops fleeing cities are being wiped out by U.S. bombers. >Others are regrouping in the mountains, forgetting that they lack the >supply lines and popular support to win the kind of guerrilla war they >waged against the Soviets. The rest, according to today's New York Times >and Washington Post, are "fading away," "disappearing," "vanishing," >"dissipating," "becoming phantoms," and "returning to their home >villages." > >Morale matters. The army that loses self-confidence and the confidence >of its people loses the war. > >-- >Dr. Alexander Tabarrok >Vice President and Director of Research >The Independent Institute >100 Swan Way >Oakland, CA, 94621-1428 >Tel. 510-632-1366, FAX: 510-568-6040 >Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Taliban Tipping Game
Here is a chunk of William Saletan's analysis from Slate, It is very supportive of Fabio's tipping interpretation. http://slate.msn.com/?id=2058705 Alex In the north, the Taliban's enemies failed to advance. In the south, they failed to speak up. The American press suggested that the war had "bogged down," that the United States had "underestimated" the Taliban, and that the U.S.-led coalition was "falling apart." Complaints of futility and pointless bloodshed grew into an outcry to halt the bombing. Then, last Friday, Mazar-i-Sharif fell. The Taliban's aura was punctured. In accelerating succession, other cities fell. War can't move that fast. It takes days to move your own tanks and troops, much less to push back the enemy's. But even in Afghanistan, the information age has arrived. What traveled from city to city in minutes wasn't the armies of the Northern Alliance, but the news of the Taliban's defeat. Civilians and Taliban soldiers who had resented the regime lost their fear of it. Those who had supported the regime lost their confidence in it. Taliban armies didn't lose their cities in battle; they defected or fled. Each flight or defection, in turn, provoked others. Sell, sell, sell. Now the rout has turned south. Pashtun warlords who refused to stand up to the Taliban a week ago are rushing to claim pieces of its carcass. Some Taliban troops fleeing cities are being wiped out by U.S. bombers. Others are regrouping in the mountains, forgetting that they lack the supply lines and popular support to win the kind of guerrilla war they waged against the Soviets. The rest, according to today's New York Times and Washington Post, are "fading away," "disappearing," "vanishing," "dissipating," "becoming phantoms," and "returning to their home villages." Morale matters. The army that loses self-confidence and the confidence of its people loses the war. -- Dr. Alexander Tabarrok Vice President and Director of Research The Independent Institute 100 Swan Way Oakland, CA, 94621-1428 Tel. 510-632-1366, FAX: 510-568-6040 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Chronicle on Levy
There is a nice article here from the Chronicle of Education on David Levy's important work on the classical economists, the poets and slavery. The link may not last forever so get it while its hot. Alex http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i12/12a01601.htm -- Dr. Alexander Tabarrok Vice President and Director of Research The Independent Institute 100 Swan Way Oakland, CA, 94621-1428 Tel. 510-632-1366, FAX: 510-568-6040 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Taliban Tipping Game
You left out of the game the AlQaida, taliban's financer, and main employer o taliban bureaoucrats. Furthermore, taliban have their stronghool between pashtuns etnia, to which thy belong, but there already taliban's oposition didn they first play, on the same dya that taliban moved to Khandahar, their sacred city. Alexander Guerrero - Original Message - From: "fabio guillermo rojas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2001 2:40 AM Subject: Taliban Tipping Game > > Armchair game theory: Does anybody here think that the war > in Afghanistan can be characterized as a tipping game? > Conscripted Taliban soldiers and residents of Taliban > controlled areas could either support the Taliban or not, > and are waiting for somebody else to move first. The first > victory last week was signalled Taliban weakness, leading > to a chain of defections and the eventual collapse of the > regime. > > Any other game theoretic interpretations of this > weeks events? > > Fabio >
