Friedman Forum: The Economic Geography of Global Warming
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On November 17, as part of the Friedman Forum speaker series, University of Chicago’s Esteban Rossi-Hansberg presented his research evaluating The Economic Geography of Global Warming. The Friedman Forum series offers students an opportunity for informal discussions with prominent economists.
Global warming is a worldwide phenomenon with a long and diverse list of potential local economic effects. In new research, Esteban Rossi-Hansberg and co-authors are using a dynamic economic assessment model of the world economy to evaluate the aggregate and local economic consequences of higher temperatures. Their baseline results show welfare losses from global warming as large as 20% in parts of Africa and Latin America but also high heterogeneity across locations, with northern regions in Siberia, Canada, and Alaska experiencing gains. The authors find that global warming will increase spatial inequality, since estimated welfare losses across locations are negatively correlated with current real income and welfare. They employ the model to assess the impact of policies like carbon taxes and clean energy subsidies, as well as abatement technologies. Read the related working paper here.
Lunch is provided.