Department of Economics, Faculty TPM, Delft University of Technology, Jaffalaan 5, 2628 BX, Delft, The Netherlands.
Sci Eng Ethics. 2017 Oct;23(5):1307-1331. doi: 10.1007/s11948-016-9780-3. Epub 2016 Apr 26.
Mainstream climate economics takes global warming seriously, but perplexingly concludes that the optimal economic policy is to almost do nothing about it. This conclusion can be traced to just a few "normative" assumptions, over which there exists fundamental disagreement amongst economists. This paper explores two axes of this disagreement. The first axis ("market vs. regulation") measures faith in the invisible hand to adjust the natural thermostat. The second axis expresses differences in views on the efficiency and equity implications of climate action. The two axes combined lead to a classification of conflicting approaches in climate economics. The variety of approaches does not imply a post-modern "anything goes", as the contradictions between climate and capitalism cannot be wished away.
主流气候经济学认真对待全球变暖，但令人费解的是，它的结论是，针对这一问题，最优的经济政策几乎是无所作为。这一结论可以追溯到几个“规范性”假设，而经济学家在这些假设上存在根本分歧。本文探讨了这种分歧的两个方面。第一个方面（“市场与监管”）衡量了对无形之手调整自然恒温器的信心。第二个方面表达了对气候行动的效率和公平影响的不同看法。这两个方面结合起来，对气候经济学中的冲突方法进行了分类。各种方法并不意味着后现代的“随心所欲”，因为气候与资本主义之间的矛盾无法回避。
