krugman_wikimedia commonsAlthough I’m sometimes given to hyperbole, I’m being sincere when I say that Paul Krugman’s recent NYT Magazine article—Building a Green Economy—is the single best thing I’ve read on climate economics.

An excerpt:

…there is widespread agreement among environmental economists that a market-based program to deal with the threat of climate change—one that limits carbon emissions by putting a price on them—can achieve large results at modest, though not trivial, cost. There is, however, much less agreement on how fast we should move, whether major conservation efforts should start almost immediately or be gradually increased over the course of many decades.

I’m not saying it’s the most detailed thing I’ve read, just that it’s the clearest and best-written piece I’ve encountered. Go read it.

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