FA23-RES-ECON

This course offers a broad overview of domestic and global water policy topics. In particular, the course will explore these topics through the lens of economics. The class covers both water quality and water quantity topics. U.S. topics will include a discussion of major environmental and health statutes such as the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. Environmental justice impacts will be discussed. Global topics will cover a range of subjects including the importance of sanitation and safe drinking water in developing countries. Issues of water scarcity in both domestic and global settings will be explored. Foundational economic topics will cover supply and demand models, non-market valuation techniques, and water pricing.

The second course in the graduate environmental and natural resource economics sequence. Covers advanced topics in the theory of environmental regulation, including dynamic regulation, regulation under asymmetric information, and second-best environmental regulation. Current empirical topics include the analyses of voluntary and information-based approaches to environmental management and emerging approaches to energy conservation.

In this class, we explore the causes of hunger (chronic undernutrition) from an economic perspective. Focusing on how population growth and economic development are increasing demand for food, and on the prospects for food production, to supply those needs at affordable prices, while sustaining the environment. Discussion in the context of the global economy in which increased trade links even the poorest urban and rural residents in developing countries to market forces. (Gen.Ed. SB, G)