The purpose of the course is to demonstrate the application of economics to important problems relating to resources and the environment.
The first part of the course focuses on resource problems in the context of international and global issues: sustainable development, international externalities, global problems, burden sharing, development. The second part of the course focuses on environmental problems of a more domestic variety: air pollution, health, water management, justice. The final part of the course is a seminar on the management of domestic resources in developing countries (mining, corruption, wildlife, biodiversity).
The course is available to both specialist students in economics with an interest in learning more about environmental and resource problems, and also to non-specialist students interested in the use of economics in addressing these problems. Specialist students will have separate class sessions demonstrating some of the economics and mathematical methods used to understand and to analyze problems in these contexts. The course is focused on the presentation of specific problems, and class-based discussion of the same.
The evaluation is based on the student’s choice of one of the environmental or resource problems presented, and the development of a paper examining that problem in greater detail.
- Enseignant: Imelda Imelda
- Enseignant: Timothy Swanson