A quick analysis of the list of academic economists present at the World Economic Forum in Davos yields a somewhat unsurprising insight: women are under-represented in the economics profession.
The World Resources Forum in Davos is all about sustainability. Economies rely on growth. So, is there such a thing as sustainable growth?
Professor Munasinghe is the Sri Lankan professor who vice-chaired the UN’s International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) and the author behind the sustainability triangle, a classic concept in our environmental economics textbooks which he first presented at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit as part of his work called sustainomics. (more…)
Economics blogging isn’t just procrastinating. And there is empirical evidence for this. [Don’t you just love economists?]
Above is one of the regressions that McKenzie and Ozler use in their 2011 paper “The Impact of Economics Blogs” to test for the impact of blogging about economics papers on its dissemination. They find that links from blogs lead to a substantial increase in the number of abstract views and downloads of economics papers. Secondly, blogging raises blogger’s profile and boosts their reputation above economists with similar publication records.
Rio+20 is not just another conference. Its sheer immensity can be felt all over the vast agglomeration of Rio de Janeiro and literally dominates the cityscape. Military police secure the orderly course of events and so do naval frigates along Ipanema Beach. Hotels charge exorbitant rates, delegates and representatives from every corner of the world roam the streets of Rio in their native costumes; even the statue of Christ that watches over the city from Mount Corcovado is flooded in a very appropriate green light. The International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE) has seized this unique opportunity to organize its XII Biennial Conference in parallel, tapping the immense pool of Rio+20 attendees to foster dialogue with a broader audience.
When I meet up with David Zetland, he’s chatting up two Forum attendees over complimentary drinks and light hors d’ouvres from the Brazilian Pavilion at Parc Chanot’s Palais Phoceen. Usually the center of attention by virtue of a lightning quick wit and polymathic knowledge, Zetland is skewering a newly-formed NGO designed to help investment banks and other financiers assess risks associated with climate change… “Which makes perfect sense,” proclaims a sardonic Zetland, “because NGO’s are so adept at evaluating investment risks and investment banks have no idea.” (more…)
What happens if you fall in love with your job, or asked in another way, how can you fall in love with what you do? As a managing editor I had the privilege to work with a fascinating bunch of students who were supposed to write about change and cover the perspectives of change makers. I realized during the virtual coaching and preparatory days and the even more intensive time during the World Resources Forum in Davos that this selected group of young students are changemakers themselves. While having had the chance to see the reporters grow from post to post I fell in love with my job. You will witness a glimpse of my enlightment in the following video in which the reporters introduce to their favourite posts.
At the beginning, I would like to ask you a simple question: What is economics? What would you answer? Would you tell me that economics is a science that describes production, consumption and distribution? Correct! Yet, there is another answer that I would like to hear: economics is a science that describes the life in the world of unlimited needs and limited (natural) resources.