Critique of Concepts about Systems and Time in William Nordhaus's Research about Climate Change

摘要

The purpose of this article is to analyze and critique two conceptual bases in the analysis by Nobel Prize economist William Nordhaus about the costs and gains of climate change. Simply put, his modeling indicates that global warming and climate change are not problems that require policies that would significantly slow economic growth. Thus, his work has been used by climate-change deniers, conservative policymakers, and industrial groups as the basis to prevent needed policies to mitigate climate change. Additionally, his work has been adversely criticized by economists who stress the need for such mitigation. Their criticism has mainly dwelt with his numbers, while leaving the basic structure of Nordhaus's analysis intact. The critique here is different, it is about two of his basic concepts that are incorrect. They are the inconsistencies with systems principles and the assertations about linear time in his work.