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Climate Shock
Book

Climate Shock

The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet

Gernot Wagner and Martin L. Weitzman
Princeton UP, 2015

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

Even those in passionate pursuit of information on the economic impact of climate change won’t be neutral about this volume’s structure and style. The odd mix of an opening quiz and cute chapter titles – like “911” to indicate that climate change is an emergency and “411” for the chapter with informative descriptions of key concepts – will either draw you in or irritate you. Still, Gernot Wagner and Martin L. Weitzman, professors and experts on the economic impact of climate change, provide a clear, level headed discussion of how much climate change will cost. They address possible solutions, from policy changes that can be made now – carbon taxes and cap-and-trade – to more speculative concepts like geoengineering. They present, as the subtitle says, a well-informed economic perspective on climate change. While always politically neutral, getAbstract recommends their solid investigation to everyone, especially those interested in climate change, fiscal reasoning and credible forecasts about economic change. As Wagner notes, “It's not (just) what we know that ought to prompt climate action; it's what we don't know.”

Take-Aways

  • Climate change and its economic consequences pose tremendous dangers to humanity.
  • Though many people underestimate its impact, climate change is a crucial, pressing issue.
  • The change in the climate is global, long-term, inevitable and defined by uncertain factors.

About the Authors

Environmental Defense Fund lead senior economist Gernot Wagner teaches at Columbia and wrote But Will the Planet Notice? How Smart Economics Can Save the World. Harvard economics professor Martin L. Weitzman writes on the economic issues of climate change.

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    R. T. 3 years ago
    This summary is Ok as it stands – but it is not enough of a coherent argument to be satisfying. I expected a far better analysis of the economic costs. But as an aside the reviewer below - of 5 years ago - is talking nonsense himself. Climate change is real, it is based on scientific fact, and the long-term effects of it are, if anything, underestimated.
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    S. R. 8 years ago
    This book is more climate non-sense.  Every climate prediction from these alarmists has been wrong.  In the 80's the world was going to be too cold.  In the late 90's it was going to get too hot.  The ice caps were going to melt and flood the world.  Well, the ice caps are bigger than ever.  Notice the subtle change in rhetorical language.  It's no longer "global warming."  It's "climate change."  Spend your time elsewhere...in reality.