Breathe Private Quality Air

Posted on November 6, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

Scarcity is perhaps one of the most fundamental characteristic of resources we pay for upon consumption. Breathable air is considered to be a common-pool resource, likely the main reason why up to now we have had open access to it. Free breathable air is, however, not a tautology, I think. Will it become a scarce [...]

The Rationale Of Burning Profits

Posted on October 31, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

Today I have yet another post on external costs and how they may lead to potentially irrational decisions with disastrous effects. The discussion is based on the flaring of natural gas by Shell in Nigeria. BBC reported on this awhile ago. In a nutshell. The natural gas — a by-product of crude oil extraction — [...]

International Day Of Climate Action

Posted on October 24, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

Ahead of the UN Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen in December, today, is the International Day Of Climate Action, or 350, i.e. the “most important number in the world” aka the “safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.” As far as I know we are now at 390 ppm carbon dioxide; guys, we need to [...]

Getting The Price Right

Posted on September 20, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

I think, economists generally argue that the market is the most promising tool we have at hand to allocate the right price to traded goods. Some argue, only a free market is likely to minimize inefficiencies and, thus, get it right while others argue, without regulation we are all doomed towards a global race to [...]

Which Countries Border The Czech Republic?

Posted on July 30, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

Which are the Swiss cantons that define the Swiss national border? Does Italy have states within its national border? Which US States overlap with the Ogallala Aquifer? After roughly 60 posts, this is my first with a more technical nature. I did promise to keep things accessible to as many readers as possible. Therefore, I’ll [...]

Does The Environment Have Intrinsic Value?

Posted on July 1, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

In their book “Free Market Environmentalism,” the authors Anderson and Leal emphasize an assumption that is fundamental to the way of thinking underlying the book’s arguments, namely, that the environment itself has no intrinsic value. I wonder if the assumption may lead at best to an incomplete and at worst to a wrong analysis of [...]

Too Big To Fail. Too Dangerous To Release.

Posted on June 11, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

Moon. Sister, I heard voices telling you carry things on your shoulders that are too big to fail? Earth. My darling, I’m sorry you got to hear the news. Please don’t worry. Indeed, some believe in infinite growth so much that others believe their mirage is too big to fail, or to let fail. We [...]

Linden Pollen

Posted on May 12, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

You see, recessions have something good too. They remind us, that our industrialized world average consumption style is not sustainable. We get more cautious with the grip at our own wallet, perhaps we think twice before we spend $10, do we really need this stuff? I think, all this is very healthy. Yet, the saving [...]

Nature’s Unappreciated Work

Posted on May 7, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

If you dig a hole in your backyard and remove a few feet of soil you hit Earth’s crust. Mine a little rock and you would be surprised to find nearly all naturally occurring elements, including gold, albeit in a very low concentration. A gold mine is an area with a high concentration of gold, [...]

A Semi-Inspired Thought

Posted on April 30, 2009 | by Markus Stocker

By the time Europeans reached Easter Island, the system that made the island one of the most intriguing population had disappeared. The explanation: Shortage of food caused by population growth and degradation of the island’s environmental resources. (R. Kaufmann and C. Cleveland. Environmental Science.) What if Earth is the Easter Island of modern times?

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