Climate Change

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

I have, unfortunately, no confidence in capitalism in dealing with the commons. I understand that global warming takes place in a commons, right? The earth's atmosphere. But topsoil is essentially private property. And if a lot of other farms were losing topsoil and you maintained yours, there'd be a high privatized pecuniary return to doing so. So why does short term time horizons prove to be a problem there? Why doesn't the market internalize the gains and costs? Markets are occasionally quite efficient; as we see in stock market levels, occasionally ludicrously inefficient and everything in between. We're not anticipating in mitigation expenditures. We're spending nothing.

When it comes to fighting climate change Jeremy Grantham is optimistic about technology – but worried about timing. Known widely for his acuity in identifying bubbles, the British investor contends that the one created by our dependence on fossil fuels is about to pop. He’s on a mission to make green energy cheaper, faster and is well on his way. After a lifetime spent thinking about resources, he’s using his to power the development of green technology. The Grantham Foundation has invested into 45 early-stage green projects, such as improving the efficiency of lithium extraction.

He joined Tyler to discuss the most binding constraint on the green transition, why we need an alternative to lithium, the important message sent by Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the marginal cost basis of green energy, the topsoil crisis in the Midwest, why estimates of the cost of global warming vastly underestimate its effects, why he distrusts economists, the overpricing concentrated in the US stock market, the consequences of Brexit, the revolutionary tactics of Margaret Thatcher, how his grandparents shaped his worldview, why he’s optimistic about American venture capital, the secret to Boston’s success in asset management, how COVID changed his media diet, the political difficulty of passing carbon taxes, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.

Recorded September 1st, 2022

Check out our new Conversations with Tyler merch here at mercatusmerch.com, and use the promo code UNDERRATED for 10% off!

Other ways to connect

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Follow Tyler on Twitter
Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu
Subscribe at our newsletter page to have the latest Conversations with Tyler news sent straight to your inbox.