Climate Economics with Arvid Viaene
A research-focused podcast on the economics of climate change and air pollution. Episodes are released every two weeks on Tuesday at 6 am CET. Episodes will be either expert interviews or solo explorations of key issues. Hosted by Dr. Arvid Viaene, a climate economist with a PhD from the University of Chicago. He has done research on the impacts of climate change on agriculture and mortality. His research on climate-related mortality has been published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, and he has advised the European Commission on the impacts of climate policy on firm competitiveness.
Climate Economics with Arvid Viaene
#22 Dr. Richard Tol - The Social Cost of Carbon, EPA Rulemaking, and How Models Get Misunderstood
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In Part 2 of my conversation with Richard Tol, we move from model structure to policy use.
We discuss the social cost of carbon, how the Obama-era EPA worked with FUND, DICE, and PAGE, and why Tol thinks the process of understanding a model matters as much as running it. We also talk about why integrated assessment models are often misunderstood, why debates around damage functions get so heated, and what this reveals about the boundary between economics and politics.
The second half of the episode turns to Europe: why cap-and-trade won out over a carbon tax, why cost-benefit analysis is often awkward in real policy settings, and what Tol is working on now at the frontier of climate economics.
This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation.
In this episode:
- why a single social cost of carbon estimate can be misleading
- how the EPA used FUND in practice
- why misunderstood models are dangerous
- damage-function debates and the politics around IAMs
- EU climate policy, cap-and-trade, and cost-benefit analysis
- Tol’s current work on transfers, population, and welfare
These descriptions fit the show’s “paper to policy” framing and your economist/policy audience.
For questions, comments or suggestions, you can contact me at arvid.viaene.ce@gmail.com