William Nordhaus

William Dawbney Nordhaus was born on May 31, 1941, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He grew up to become a renowned economist known for his work in environmental economics, particularly in the integration of climate change into long-term macroeconomic analysis. Nordhaus has been a Professor of Economics at Yale University since 1967, where he has worked extensively on the economics of climate change.

In 1977, William Nordhaus co-authored the seminal paper 'Is Growth Obsolete?' with James Tobin. This paper introduced the Measure of Economic Welfare (MEW), addressing the limitations of traditional GDP as a measure of national economic performance. It laid the groundwork for later work in incorporating environmental and social factors into economic analysis.

William Nordhaus published the Dynamic Integrated Climate-Economy (DICE) model in 1992. The model represents the interaction between economics and climate change, providing a framework to assess the trade-offs between economic growth and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. It has become a crucial tool in climate change economics to analyze the cost-effectiveness of climate policies.

William Nordhaus was one of the prominent economists advocating for a carbon tax as a solution to mitigate climate change as early as 1994. He suggested this economic approach to reduce carbon emissions, arguing it is an efficient way to discourage the burning of fossil fuels and encourage the shift to renewable energy sources.

In 1996, William Nordhaus published 'Managing the Global Commons: The Economics of Climate Change', a comprehensive analysis assessing the cost-benefit of various climate change mitigation strategies. The book solidified his reputation as a leading thinker in environmental economics, providing new insights into how economic and environmental policies can be integrated.

Nordhaus released 'A Question of Balance: Weighing the Options on Global Warming Policies' in 2007. This book discusses various policy options for managing global warming, emphasizing the importance of balancing costs and benefits. It provides a rigorous, model-based approach to the economics of climate policy and identifies the critical importance of using economic analysis to guide climate policy.

In 2014, Nordhaus revised the DICE model, incorporating new data and insights from recent climate science. The updated model included considerations for new economic conditions and climate impacts, enhancing its relevance for contemporary climate-economy analysis. The updates reaffirmed its status as a leading model for evaluating climate policies.

Alongside his Nobel Prize, Nordhaus's specific contribution was pioneering models that integrate economic growth with climate change models. These models, such as the DICE model, allow researchers and policymakers to evaluate the economic impacts of climate-related policies and the trade-off between economic development and environmental protection.

In 2018, William Nordhaus was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics Sciences for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis. His work established methods to understand the interactions between economy and climate, which have been widely used to evaluate and propose policies to mitigate the effects of climate change.

In December 2020, Nordhaus published a critique of various international climate policy approaches, arguing for more stringent economic policies that internally reflect the economic reality of climate risks. He has been vocal about the need for realistic pricing of carbon emissions to encourage reductions and has critiqued insufficiently ambitious climate agreements.