William Nordhaus: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|American economist (born 1941)}}

| education = [[Yale University]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.BA]], [[Master of Arts|M.A.MA]])}}<br>[[Sciences Po]]<br>[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] {{small|([[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.PhD]])}}

| awards = [[BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award]] {{small|(2017)}}<br>[[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] {{small|(2018)}}

'''William Dawbney Nordhaus''' (born May 31, 1941) is an American [[economist]],. He was a [[Sterling Professor|Sterling Professor of Economics]] at [[Yale University]], best known for his work in [[economic model|economic mode]]ling and [[climate change]], and a co-recipient of the 2018 [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]].<ref>{{cite news | last1 = Appelbaum | first1 = Binyamin | title = 2018 Nobel in Economics Awarded to William Nordhaus and Paul Romer | newspaper = The New York Times | date = October 8, 2018 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/business/economic-science-nobel-prize.html}}</ref> Nordhaus received the prize "for integrating climate change into long-run [[macroeconomic analysis]]".<ref name=nobelpressrelease>{{cite press release |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=October 8, 2018 |title=The Prize in Economic Sciences 2018 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/10/press-economicsciences2018.pdf |publisher=Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences}}</ref>

Nordhaus was born in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]], [[New Mexico]], the son of Virginia (Riggs) and Robert J. Nordhaus,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://obits.abqjournal.com/obits/show/172069|title=Albuquerque Journal Obituaries|website=obits.abqjournal.com}}</ref> who co-founded the [[Sandia Peak Tramway]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/11/us/brothers-work-different-angles-in-taking-on-climate-change.html|title=Brothers Battle Climate Change on Two Fronts|newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 10, 2014 |last1=Davenport |first1=Coral }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sandiapeak.com/index.php?page=history-technology|title=Sandia Peak Ski & Tramway – History & Technology|website=sandiapeak.com}}</ref> Robert J. Nordhaus was from a German [[History of the Jews in Germany|German Jewish]] family – his father Max Nordhaus (1865–1936) had immigrated from [[Paderborn]] in 1883, and became a manager of The Charles Ilfeld Company branch in Albuquerque.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Profile of William D. Nordhaus|first1=Regina|last1=Nuzzo|author1-link= Regina Nuzzo |date=June 27, 2006|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=103|issue=26|pages=9753–9755|doi=10.1073/pnas.0601306103|pmid=16803963|pmc=1502525|bibcode=2006PNAS..103.9753N|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTwqwB3952QC&pg=PA109|title=Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West|first1=Harriet|last1=Rochlin|first2=Fred|last2=Rochlin|date=2018|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0618001965}}</ref>

Nordhaus graduated from [[Phillips Academy]] in [[Andover, Massachusetts|Andover]] and subsequently received his [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] and [[Master of Arts|MA]] from [[Yale University|Yale]] in 1963 and 19731972, respectively, where he was a member of [[Skull and Bones]].<ref name=NYT1964>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/03/archives/william-dawbney-nordhaus-will-marry-barbara-feise.html|title=William Dawbney Nordhaus Will Marry Barbara Feise|newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 3, 1964 |access-date=October 8, 2018|language=en}}</ref> He also holds a Certificate from the [[Institut d'Etudes Politiques]] (1962) and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] from [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] (1967).<ref name="NYT1964" /><ref name="thesis-nordhaus-1967">{{cite thesis |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302275783/ |title=A theory of endogenous technological change |date=1967 |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] |type=Ph.D. |last1=Nordhaus |first1=William Dawbney |via=[[ProQuest]] |url-access=subscription |oclc=24679365}}</ref><ref name=NYT1964/><ref name=Yale-page>{{cite web|url=https://economics.yale.edu/people/william-d-nordhaus|title=William D. Nordhaus|publisher=Yale Department of Economics|website=economics.yale.edu|language=en|access-date=October 8, 2018|archive-date=February 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190211030438/https://economics.yale.edu/people/william-d-nordhaus|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was a Visiting Fellow of [[Clare Hall, Cambridge]] in 1970–1971. He has been a member of the faculty at Yale since 1967, in both the Economics department and the School of the Environment.<ref name="Yale-page" /><ref>{{cite news | last1 = Harris | first1 = Richard | title = Economist Says Best Climate Fix A Tough Sell, But Worth It | location = Washington, D.C. | publisher = National Public Radio | date = February 11, 2014 | url = https://www.npr.org/2014/02/11/271537401/economist-says-best-climate-fix-a-tough-sell-but-worth-it | access-date = October 1, 2017}}</ref><ref name=Yale-page/> Nordhaus also served as its [[provost (education)|Provost]] from 1986–1988 and its Vice President for Finance and Administration from 1992–1993. He has been on the [[Brookings Institution|Brookings Panel on Economic Activity]] since 1972. During the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] administration, from 1977–1979, Nordhaus was a member of the [[Council of Economic Advisers]].<ref name=Yale-page/>

Nordhaus was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=william+nordhaus&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-03-17|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> He served as the chairman of the board of directors of the [[Boston Federal Reserve Bank of Boston]] between 2014 and 2015.<ref name="YaleNews">{{Cite news|url=https://news.yale.edu/2018/10/08/yales-william-nordhaus-wins-2018-nobel-prize-economic-sciences|title=Yale's William Nordhaus wins 2018 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences|date=October 8, 2018|work=YaleNews|access-date=October 8, 2018|language=en}}</ref>

Nordhaus is the author or editor of over 20 books. One of his early works is the wildly popular introductory textbook, ''[[Economics (textbook)|Economics]]'', co-authored with [[Paul Samuelson]]. Originally a project of Samuelson's alone, Nordhaus worked on the textbook from the 12th edition until the 19th (the most recent edition), starting in 1985.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Samuelson |first1=Paul A. |last2=McGraw |first2=Harold W. |last3=Nordhaus |first3=William D. |last4=Ashenfelter |first4=Orley |last5=Solow |first5=Robert M. |last6=Fischer |first6=Stanley |title=Samuelson's "Economics" at Fifty: Remarks on the Occasion of the Anniversary of Publication |journal=The Journal of Economic Education <!-- |date=undefined NaN --> |year=1999 |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=352–363 |doi=10.2307/1182949|jstor=1182949 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Economics |date=2009 |isbn=9780073511290 |url=https://www.mheducation.com/highered/product/economics-samuelson-nordhaus/M9780073511290.html |language=en |last1=Samuelson |first1=Paul A. |last2=Nordhaus |first2=William D. |publisher=McGraw-Hill Education }}</ref> The book was first published in 1948 and has appeared in nineteen different editions and seventeen different languages since then. It was a best-selling economics textbook for decades and is still extremely popular today. ''Economics'' has been called a “canonical textbook”, and the development of mainstream economic thought has been traced by comparing the nineteen editions over the 1948–2010 period.<ref>{{CitationCite thesis |title=A study of Paul A. Samuelson's Economics : making economics accessible to students : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10179/2178 |publisher=Massey University needed|date=June2000 |language=en |first=Leanne |last=Smith |chapter=Introduction |page=2|hdl=10179/2178 2023}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=If we are to obtain accurate estimates of the growth of real incomes over the last century, we must somehow construct [[price index|price indexes]]es that account for the vast changes in the quality and range of goods and services that we consume, that somehow compare the services of horse with automobile, of [[Pony Express]] with [[fax|facsimile machine]], of [[carbon paper]] with [[photocopier]], of dark and lonely nights with nights spent watching television, and of brain surgery with [[magnetic resonance imaging]].}}

{{Blockquote|text=Mankind is playing dice with the natural environment through a multitude of interventions–injecting into the atmosphere trace gases like the [[greenhouse gas|greenhouse gases]]es or [[ozone depletion|ozone-depleting]] chemicals, engineering massive [[land use, land-use change, and forestry|land-use changes]] such as [[deforestation]], depleting multitudes of species in their natural habitats even while creating [[transgenic organism|transgenic]] ones in the laboratory, and accumulating sufficient [[nuclear weapon|nuclear weapons]]s to destroy human civilizations.}}

{{quoteblockquote|The Review's unambiguous conclusions about the need for extreme immediate action will not survive the substitution of discounting assumptions that are consistent with today's market place. So the central questions about global-warming policy–how much, how fast, and how costly–remain open. The Review informs but does not answer these fundamental questions.}}

Many of the news outlets that reported on Nordhaus's prize noted that he was in the advanceearly wave of economists who embraced a [[carbon tax]] as a preferred method of [[carbon pricing]].<ref>{{cite news | last1 = Strauss | first1 = Delphine | title = Economics Nobel recognises work on climate change and innovation: William Nordhaus and Paul Romer showed how to achieve sustained and sustainable growth | newspaper = Financial Times | date = October 8, 2018 | url = https://www.ft.com/content/b08807de-cae0-11e8-9fe5-24ad351828ab | quote = Mr Nordhaus was an early advocate of carbon taxes, but the committee noted that the models he developed also allowed policymakers to calculate quantitative paths for the best tax showing how they would depend on [assumptions regarding the values of disparate climate and economic variables].}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last1 = Appelbaum | first1 = Binyamin | title = 2018 Nobel in Economics Awarded to William Nordhaus and Paul Romer | newspaper = The New York Times | date = October 8, 2018 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/business/economic-science-nobel-prize.html | quote = The Yale economist William D. Nordhaus has spent the better part of four decades trying to persuade governments to address climate change, preferably by imposing a tax on carbon emissions. His careful work has long since convinced most members of his own profession . ...}}</ref> Some climate scientists and commentators were disappointed with the Nobel Prize going to Nordhaus due to his embrace of substantially lower carbon taxes per ton than most scientists, along with his past history of minimalarguing for low carbon taxes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-linden-nobel-economics-mistake-20181025-story.html|title=The economics Nobel went to a guy who enabled climate change denial and delay|last1=Linden|first1=Eugene|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=2018-10-31|date=October 25, 2018}}</ref>

Critics of Nordhaus's DICE model focus on several aspects. One of the most important, incorporating political and moral philosophy, is the use of discounting, with an early study by William Cline.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cline|first=William|title=The economics of global warming|publisher=Institute for International Economics.|year=1992}}</ref> Another branch, represented by [[Robert Pindyck]], holds that integrated assessment models cannot capture the complexity of the climate-economy nexus.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pindyck|first=Robert S.|date=May 2012|title=Uncertain outcomes and climate change policy|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2011.12.001|journal=Journal of Environmental Economics and Management|volume=63|issue=3|pages=289–303|doi=10.1016/j.jeem.2011.12.001|issn=0095-0696|hdl=1721.1/66946|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Nicholas Stern argued that the damage function does not capture many of the most important risks to society.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stern|first=Nicholas|date=2008-04-01|title=The Economics of Climate Change|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.98.2.1|journal=American Economic Review|volume=98|issue=2|pages=1–37|doi=10.1257/aer.98.2.1|s2cid=59019533 |issn=0002-8282|doi-access=free}}</ref> A particularly important critique, developed by [[Martin Weitzman]], is that the economy-climate system may have "fat tails" and therefore inadequately deal with low probability, high consequence outcomes.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Weitzman|first=Martin L.|date=2011-07-01|title=Fat-Tailed Uncertainty in the Economics of Catastrophic Climate Change|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/reep/rer006|journal=Review of Environmental Economics and Policy|volume=5|issue=2|pages=275–292|doi=10.1080/14747731.2020.1807856|s2cid=225300874|issn=1750-6816}}</ref>

When specifically speaking about Nordhaus, he says that "Nordhaus has misrepresented the scientific literature to justify the using a smooth function to describe the damage to GDP from climate change. Correcting for these errors makes it feasible that the economic damages from climate change are at least an order of magnitude worse than forecast by economists, and may be so great as to threaten the survival of human civilization." <ref>{{Cite journal|last=Keen|first=Steve|date=2020-09-01|title=The appallingly bad neoclassical economics of climate change|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14747731.2020.1807856?scroll=top&needAccess=true|journal=Globalizations|volume=18 |issue=7 |pages=1149–1177|doi=10.1080/14747731.2020.1807856|s2cid=225300874 |issn=1750-6816}}</ref>