It's gonna be a warm one (decade, that is...)

"US sees its emissions growing without letup"

US greenhouse gas emissions will grow nearly as fast over the next decade as they did during the previous decade, according to a draft Bush administration report

And this is a good thing? Read the article above and identify some of the externalities associated with continued growth in greenhouse gas emissions. What policy of emission reduction did President Bush support during his first presidential campaign that he has since abandoned? Why might Mr. Bush's "voluntary greenhouse gas intensity reduction" initiative fail to achieve a socially optimal level of greenhouse gas reduction? Post your comments to this article here.

Combatting externalities in the energy industry

A North Carolina power company received approval to install a new coal fired power plant this week.

What tool does the North Carolina Utilities Commission employ to reduce the externalities associated with power generation in the state? Can you think of an approach that may be more effective than that described in the article? Post your comments here, referring to the four methods of externality reduction studied in class.

"Economists have predicted 9 out of the last 5 recessions" Greenspan utters the "R" word...

"Greenspan is Still Able to Move Markets"

Recession, such a bad word... How can one man's mention of this word cause a nearly 1.7% plunge in the US stock market? Read this article about Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve Bank, and his comments about the possibility of an end to America's long period of economic expansion and low inflation. While reading, look for terms and concepts covered in class, and see if you can draw an AD/AS diagram to model the US economy over the last several years of expansion and then the economy should it start to experience slower growth or recession. Post your comments on this page after you've read the article, identifying what you think are the key points of Greenspan's comments on the state of the global economy.

Welcome to Welker's Wikinomics (the blog)

This blog has been created to serve as a forum for Economics students at Shanghai American School as a means of disseminating interesting insights, stories, external links related to the topics covered in both IB and AP Economics.