Condliffe Memorial Lecture

You are warmly invited to attend the 7th annual Condliffe Memorial lecture, ‘Why is the economics of climate change so difficult and controversial? The lecture will be delivered by Martin Weitzman, Professor in Economics at Harvard University. Event details and an outline of the seminar are provided below.

Date: Thursday 17th November 4.30pm – 5.30pm. Refreshments to follow
Venue: Law 108, Ground floor of the Law Building. University of Canterbury. (Parking is available in the Law car park, off University Drive)

RSVP: To: karen.ashby@canterbury.ac.nz or phone +64 3 364 3882 to secure your seat.

Abstract:
In this lecture Professor Weitzman focuses on the special features of the economics of climate change that make this area so very difficult to analyse by conventional economic tools. He will discuss briefly such topics as deep structural uncertainty, whose preferences are included, the possibility of catastrophic outcomes, discounting the distant future, and international public goods. Professor Weitzman will speculate on how the dilemmas of climate change might play themselves out.

Biography:
Martin L. Weitzman is Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Previously he was on the faculties of MIT and Yale. He has been elected as a fellow of the Econometric Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has published widely in many leading economic journals and written two books. Weitzman's interests in economics are broad and he has served as consultant for several well-know organisations. His current research is focused on environmental economics, including climate change, the economics of catastrophes, cost-benefit analysis, long-run discounting, green accounting, and comparison of alternative instruments for controlling pollution.