Environmental Economics and Policy 1
Economics 3

Instructor:  Peter Berck, SJ Hall Professor
pberck@berkeley.edu  Home Page
207 Giannini Hall
Office Hour:  F @ 10:30A or after class.

Lecture:  Tues & Thurs 2-330 in

Sections: M 9-10A, 2038 LSB ; W 3-4, 2062 LSB F 2-3 P, 2030 LSB, F 3-4P, 2030 LSB

GSI's:  Lilia Chaidez  (F) and  Qu Tang (M-W)

ENROLLMENT QUESTIONS:  The short answer is that I as the instructor have no control over who gets into the course.  It is offered every semester.  A lot of people on the waitlist have made it in over the years.  Can't promise anything, though.

Attendance:  Since there is a long waitlist, we will drop anyone who does not attend the first two class sessions.

Quizzes:    September   27 and October   30

Problem sets--PS1  PS2  PS3  PS4        PS5.  (These are the 2012 problems)

Who, What, When, Where and Maybe Why 

http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php is where to find the webcast.  (look under econ 3)

Addison Wesley's web site for the book--links to most of the references and other interesting places

The text is Berck and Helfand, Environmental Economics, Addison Wesley 2011.  (ERRATA)

The background photo for this page  is steamboat geyser in Yellowstone.

The 2012 dates for lectures  are here in an excel file listed by book chapter. 

1.  Supply and Demand *(PowerPoint). (1st and 2nd Class)  BH2 
2. Energy Administration Web site
3. Elasticity.   Covered in First Section p.14
4. Taxes and Policies* 2nd Class  BH2  (p. 25) pdf
5. Environmental Taxes--in a comparison of CA and Swedish Environmental Policy
6. Problem Set 1 due 9/6/2012
7. A First Look at Market Failures * 8/30  9/6  BH 3
8. Some Air pollution resources:  EPA's description of the Clean Air Act  California Air Quality Farrell et al on Ethanol
9. The Stern Review
10.  Demand, Indifference, and Budget   9/11-13/2012  BH 4
11. The USDA page on food stamps (now SNAP)
12. Consumer Surplus and the longer and better powerpoint version  Consumer Surplus  ppt* BH:5  9/18-20 /2012
13. Problem Set 2 due 9/20/2012
14. Review 9/25/2012  :    Review Sheet for Quiz 1  updated for 2012)
15. quiz 1 9/27/2012
16. READ Chapter 5.BH
17. Revealed Preference-- pdf *Benefit Estimation BH  6 9/20/2012
18. Stated Preference-- pdf *Benefit Estimation  BH 7 10/4/2012
19. Read "Conservation Reconsidered"  (Use link below to JSTOR--will work from campus IP or you will need to use the library proxy server. (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Help/proxy.html).)  This will be covered in section.
     

    John V. Krutilla

    The American Economic Review, Vol. 57, No. 4. (Sep., 1967), pp. 777-786.

    Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-8282%28196709%2957%3A4%3C777%3ACR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-V

20. Emma Aisbett's notes on Krutilla
21. Problem Set III  Oct 16 2012
22. Techniques, Isoquants and Cost  pdf  BH 8 10/9-11/2012
23. Clean air act
24. NYT magazine  April 4, 2004  "Changing all the rules" by Bruce Barcott.  Section 6; Column 1; Magazine Desk; Pg. 38 (New Source Performance Standards) 
     AEP billion $ Settlement . New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Oct 9, 2007. pg. C.6
    Environmental Defense Fund v. Duke Energy
    REMEMBER  . (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Help/proxy.html).)   needs to be installed to use the Library from home!!!
25. Conservation Supply curves  (Laitner et al.)
26. Costs and Such  BH 9 (price = marginal cost)   (10/16-18/2012)
27. Fixed Costs, etc and Profits, Derivation of Supply Curve  pdf (powerpoint) BH 9  (Oct 18, 2011  )
28. Problem set 4 due Oct 23
29. Review for Quiz on Oct 25.
30. 2011 Review Subjects for Quiz 2  
31. Quiz 2 October 30 2012
32. Air, High Speed Rail...  
33. Coase Theorem.  Surplus, Welfare, Environment * (Oct 23 and Nov 1'12) BH 10 and 11
34. Allocating Pollution Between Firms   Nov 6  BH 10 and 11
35. Materials for a trading game  game sheet  (Nov 8 2012)
36. Ronald Coase  "The Problem of Social Cost"  Nov. 1
37. How to Reduce Pollution:  The policy angle  BH  12 and 13 Nov 13 and 15 2012
38. Discounting  BH 14.  15  and 20 Novermber 2012
39. Interest Rates and Cost Benefit Analysis.  BH 15 and 14.  also see Interest Rates
40. Cost Benefit Analysis  BH 15 
41. Green Accounting Nov 20, 2012  Ch 18.
42. Sustainability Power Point Presentation  not in 2012
43. Problem Set 5 Due Nov 27, 2011 (covers through BH 15)   (This problem set can take up to 6 hours, start early.)
44. Final review sheet 2012
45. Review for Final. Nov 27 and 29
46. Reading week December 6 and 8

Learning Goals: 1.  Understand everyday economic problems.  2.  Use economic theory to understand and evaluate policy proposals.  3.  Solve problems with clear solution.  4. Understand economic news.   5.  Learn how and why negative externalities should be controlled.

Problem Sets For 2010

PS1  PS2  PS3  PS4  PS5

_____________________Older Material for Reference______________________

1. Marginal Product (but fundamentally not necessary to the way we presented the firm)
2. History of Agricultural Policy: An Outline and the better Ag. Policy Talk (powerpoint)  (Still BH 2)
3. Look at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Features/FarmBill/ for the current farm bill.  Agricultural Policies ( a list of policies with short explanation of each)  For more info on the Farm Credit System.  Ag Wrapup
4. Budget Constraints and Food Stamps* (including graphs from class)
5. Consumer Theory I  The Chosen Bundle  PowerPoint Presentation *  9/8-13  BH 4
6. Consumer Theory Brief Html
7. Deriving the Demand Curve*   9/13/2010 BH 4
8. Price and Quantity Regulation: An Isoquant Story (repeats earlier material)
9. Some Loose Ends (1999)
10. Pareto Optimality 2007 version Powerpoint Presentation. Includes a proof that CE is PO and Coase Theorem.
11. Public Goods  
12. Exhaustible Resources  BH 17  Dec 2.
13. Review Dec 4 and Dec 9.
14. Forestry and Environmental Laws   (2007 version)    Powerpoint.  (quite long.)
15. Water Primer  Powerpoint
16. Competition and Environment 
17. Garbage and California Recycling
18. Fish and Capital
19. Notes on International Environment
20. Isoquants and Techniques*(powerpoint.  has Timmer example) BH 8  (10/7/09)
21. Isoquants to Cost Curves; Regulation and Isoquants *(powerpoint) (10/12/09)
22. Isoquants, Factor Demand, Deriving Cost   10/12*
23. Cost Functions and 
24. Fixed Costs, Profits, Bankruptcy FC,Profit, Bankruptcy ppt (not 2010)

Summary List of Concepts  Review for Final 06  Final Review of 07 Final Review 08 Final Review 09

There are no answers to final exams.  Only midterms have written out answers.

Sample Exams:  1997 Midterm Exam  1997 Final Exam  2000 Final 2002 Final  2003Final Quiz 2 '04 Ans to Q2 '04

2004 Exam I Answer to Exam I 04 Quiz    Answers   Quiz 1 2006   Answer   Quiz II 06  Quiz II Answer 06  2006Final 2007Midterm Ans2007 QuizI 2008 Ans  Quiz2 2008 ans  Final 08 MidI_09 ans Mid2_09 ans final09  Mid1_2010  ans  Mid2_2010 ans  Final2010  Mid12011 ans Mid2 2011 ans Final 2011 Mid I 2012 ans Mid II 2012 ans Final 2012

Older Problem Sets

1. Problem Set 1  
2. Problem Set 2   
3. Problem Set 3   
4. Problem Set 4     (These are from BH and new this year)
5. Problem Set 5     in pdf in word  (1 old problem and monopoly and 2 from BH)

Practice Problems on Cost and Supply(*.pdf) or in.  (word)

Previous Problem Set 4  Previous Problem Set 5