Global climate change cannot be understood without knowing the fundamental principles of science, economics, and politics that condition our policy choices. To that end, the contributors to this volume, experts in their respective fields, take a comprehensive look at the major issues involved. This volume is written for policymakers and informed citizenry who want to understand at a general level the complexities of global climate change without becoming enmeshed in technical minutia. The introduction emphasizes the core fact that climate change issues cut across disciplines. William Schlesinger and Gerald North explain the carbon cycle and how increased greenhouse gases impact temperature. The economics papers deal with the applicability of benefit/cost analysis and then proceed to examine the benefits of avoiding temperature change versus the costs of the various CO2 abatement options. Finally, David Victor, a Stanford political scientist, asks which policies are feasible in a world where the incentives differ dramatically among countries. The book closes with open letters to the President of the United States. Policymakers along with academics, students and any reader interested in a broad look at the important issues in the global climate change story will find this book indispensable.

This volume, originally published in 1982, brings together economists, political scientists and industry experts to explain OPEC's past achievements and future (in the early 1980s) prospects. The book opens with a clear, concise amd easy to follow treatment of the economics of exhaustible resources under monopoly and competition, the framework frequently used to examine pricing issues. The role of wealth maximisation, wealth satisficing and political factors as OPEC objectives are discussed and implications for world oil prices assessed. The stability of OPEC and the limitations of its pricing policy are examined and OPEC oil pricing and importers' policies analysed.

This volume, originally published in 1982, brings together economists, political scientists and industry experts to explain OPEC's past achievements and future (in the early 1980s) prospects. The book opens with a clear, concise amd easy to follow treatment of the economics of exhaustible resources under monopoly and competition, the framework frequently used to examine pricing issues. The role of wealth maximisation, wealth satisficing and political factors as OPEC objectives are discussed and implications for world oil prices assessed. The stability of OPEC and the limitations of its pricing policy are examined and OPEC oil pricing and importers' policies analysed.

The electricity market has experienced enormous setbacks in delivering on the promise of deregulation. In theory, deregulating the electricity market would increase the efficiency of the industry by producing electricity at lower costs and passing those cost savings on to customers. However, deregulation poses substantial risks if the market is not designed properly, as the recent California crisis demonstrated. As "Electricity Deregulation "shows, successful deregulation is possible, although it is by no means a hands-off process--in fact, it requires a substantial amount of design and regulatory oversight.
This collection brings together leading experts from academia, government, and big business to discuss the lessons learned from experiences such as California's market meltdown as well as the ill-conceived policy choices that contribute to such failures. More importantly, the essays that comprise "Electricity Deregulation" offer a number of innovative prescriptions for the successful design of deregulated electricity markets. Written with economists and professionals associated with each of the network industries in mind, this comprehensive volume provides a timely and astute deliberation on the many risks and rewards of electricity deregulation.

While everyone wants energy that is clean, cheap, and secure, these goals often conflict: traditional fossil fuels tend to be cheaper than alternative fuels, but they are hardly clean or (in the case of oil) secure. This timely book provides an easy-to-understand explanation of the issues as well as sensible proposals for a truly sustainable energy policy. Economist James Griffin points out that current energy policies are fatally flawed and that government policies should focus on "getting the prices right" so that the prices of fossil fuels reflect their true costs to society--including greenhouse gas and security costs. By using carbon and security taxes, alternative energy forms will be able to compete on a more even playing field against fossil fuels. This will unleash advances in alternative energy and conservation technologies enabling the marketplace and consumers to find the right balance among energy sources that are cheap, clean, and secure.