Matthew Kahn on Climate Change Economics

Steven sits down with Matthew Kahn, Provost Professor of Economics at the University of Southern California, to discuss the interactions between inequality and climate change. Dr. Kahn outlines how changes in the environment are altering people’s lives across the globe, from hurricane-ravaged residents of New Orleans to rice-farmers-turned-shrimp-sellers in Dhaka. The lively discussion even explores the idea of progressives buying oil fields, up-zoning on higher ground, and allowing insurance premium prices to rise in order to reflect risk. The Inequality in Perspective segment explores the divide between the Global North and the Global South and how it complicates climate mitigation.

Links:

International Panel on Climate Change’s 2022 Report: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_FullReport.pdf

“Renewing Global Climate Change Action for Fragile and Developing Countries” (Brookings Institute): https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NOV-2022-Signe_Mbaye_FINAL-1.pdf

“It is Unfair to Push Poor Countries to Reach Zero Carbon Emissions too Early” (Brookings Institute): https://www.brookings.edu/articles/it-is-unfair-to-push-poor-countries-to-reach-zero-carbon-emissions-too-early/

The Brandt Line: https://www.bisa.ac.uk/articles/brandt-line-after-forty-years-more-north-south-relations-change-more-they-stay-same