Timing Is Everything: How Economists Can Better Address the Urgency of Stronger Climate Policy

Abstract

Building on recent consensus findings from climate scientists, this article argues that stronger policy action to address global climate change is urgent. The article indicates how economists can better address this urgency and thereby contribute more effectively to climate policy discussions. Greater effectiveness requires that economists focus their policy assessments more sharply on the timing of policy implementation and the environmental and economic costs of delayed implementation. The article also shows that focusing more on the prospects for near-term implementation can alter the cost rankings of U.S. climate policy alternatives, increasing the attractiveness of some climate policy approaches that economists might otherwise tend to dismiss.