UP Links 15 January 2013

+ Brandon Fuller

Rob Young, co-author of The Rising Sea, on Coastal Rebuilding

If federal taxpayers are going to be asked to spend billions on beach and dune engineering projects to protect private property and infrastructure, we need to know that the money will be allocated wisely. The proposed Emergency Supplemental Spending Bill now in Congress does not provide that assurance.

Should Beijing convert from coal to natural gas?

Why hasn’t this growing, rich city moved up the energy ladder from coal to cleaner natural gas for providing winter heat?  Yes, it would take money to make this conversion but if there are 10 million people in Beijing and if each person suffers $200 in health damage each year (I’m making up this number) due to coal use, then the total annual externality from exposure to this coal induced pollution is $1 billion.  At a 2% interest rate (and I pick this interest rate to reflect the likely faster growth of the Beijing economy and so the $200 number will rise over time),  the Present Discounted Value of benefits of this transition is $50 billion dollars and this must be greater than the 1 time cost of making this transition.

Africa’s Rise is Real

Like a growing number of economists, development specialists, health, and agricultural scientists, we have watched as the gap between popular depictions and reality on the ground in sub-Saharan Africa has widened. We set out, with detailed sectoral, geopolitical and econometric analysis, to lay out what we feel is a more accurate picture of sub-Saharan Africa today — and the dramatic changes we expect to see in the coming decades.

Paul Brenton: Africa can help feed Africa

Africa is not achieving its potential in food trade, increasing the risk of widespread hunger and malnutrition. This column argues that the most serious problems for the continent are problems of political economy and barriers along the value chain. The good news is that, despite demand for food throughout Africa predicted to double over the next decade, governments can act now to overcome these problems. With a regional approach to food security, African governments can spur on benefits to farmers and consumers as well as job creation along the value chain of staples.

Miles Kimball on Marvin Goodfriend and Electronic Money

It is no exaggeration to say that a large share of the economic problems the world has faced in the last few years are a result of the zero lower bound created by the fact that currency now earns an interest rate of zero.

Reihan Salam on Tim Kane’s Bleeding Talent

Reforming human capital policy affords the greatest opportunity to maintain and even expand the ability of the U.S. military to meet emerging threats while ensuring that its cost proves sustainable.
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