HONR 229L: Climate Change: Science, Economics, and Governance

1. HONR 229L: Climate Change: Science, Economics, and Governance Capitalism Your name here 24 October 2019

2. As always, I suggest consideration of working the admission ticket questions into the presentation. I think the first AT question: What factor does Yuval Noah Harari claim “enables banks - and the entire economy - to survive and flourish”? could be a good way to start because, quite frankly, I think most non-economists do not appreciate the role of “trust” in the modern economy. Should you so desire, you could grab some images and ideas from this website: https://www.theatlantic.com/sponsored/charles-schwab-2017-nt/the-trust-economy/1290 to lead a discussion of this core element of economic growth.

3. Seems to me regardless of your use of the ATs, you might want to incorporate some element of the Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations into the discussion. Of course, can go straight with Q2 of the AT, which reads: First provide a paragraph describing the central argument put forth by Adam Smith in Wealth of Nations, and then provide another paragraph relating this argument to either a particular success or failure we had discussed from the book Collapse. since I would expect this will provide lots of opportunities for class participation.

4. I did not place “it is the scientists who foot the bill” into the AT, because well can’t cover the entire chapter in the ATs. Here, you could ask students to support or refute the argument that scientists really do foot the bill of long term economic growth. In my opinion, probably more true that false, but easy for me as a scientist to state this! Anyway, if you go down this route, can certainly factor in the Industrial Revolution and the growth of CO2 that resulted. You are welcome to use the image below as well as the image on the next slide. Fig 3.1, Salawitch et al., Paris Climate Agreement: Beacon of Hope

5. This figure shows that land use change associated with agriculture: i.e., deforestation, was the primary cause of rising CO2 during the period 1850 to about 1910. It is debated, quite hotly, how far back the human perturbation of CO2 due to agriculture extends. Fig 4.1, Salawitch et al., Paris Climate Agreement: Beacon of Hope

6. Totally your call how much or how little of the Spanish, Dutch, and British conquests to work into the discussion. I do expect many will write, as something new they learned from this reading, the notion that early wars were fought by merchants rather than by governments as being something “new”.

7. We could show the clip of Al Gore’s movie “Speak Truth to Power”, before you stand up, stating that India argued for “credit” before signing the Paris Climate Agreement, or you could show as part of the 45 min discussion. Let’s coordinate. Background info regarding this film clip is detailed here: https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/elon-al-gore-india-and-trump To the degree possible, would be great if you can review the credit rating of various countries perhaps using websites such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_credit_rating#Moody's or https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/apr/30/credit-ratings-country-fitch-moodys-standard and lead a discussion of the Al Gore clip.

8. Totally your call on how, if at all, to use Q3 of the AT: With some specificity, describe something new you learned from this reading.

9. I would hope that Q4 of the AT: In a recent wall Street Journal opinion piece entitled “Capitalism Will Solve the Climate Problem”: http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~rjs/class/honr229L/readings/krupp_wsj_181015.pdf Fred Krupp writes “Climate change is a byproduct of the prosperity created by the market economy” and provides the optimistic outlook that “the market will find winning solutions [to the climate problem]” although he falls short on specifics other than stating public policy that places a price on carbon emissions is a key element of this solution. Drawing upon elements of the Harari reading as well as other material from this class, write a few paragraphs either supporting or refuting the view that “Capitalism Will Solve the Climate Problem”. Great if you can incorporate into your essay an element of our mantra “those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it” (i.e., relate a bit of history from Harari into your reply) and also invoke either an optimistic or pessimistic view regarding the role of capitalism in solving the climate crisis. Would lead to an opportunity for an extended class discussion. Perhaps even a debate.

10. Here are the figures from the reading, that I was able to get in color from the e-book:

11. Here are the figures from the reading, that I was able to get in color from the e-book: Plus one extra

12. Feel free to alter, ad lib, change in any way you’d like provided the presentation draws upon the reading. You are welcome to use the Admission Ticket questions heavily, not at all, or somewhere in between. You have 45 mins to lead a discussion on Capitalism, as you see fit! Good luck!