Green Economics
This is a follow-up to my last green jobs post. Matthew Kahn, green economist par excellence, asks some questions about green jobs:
I’m still trying to understand what are the exact details of how the “green jobs” push translates into specific policies? Is this simply a relabeling of Keynesian public works projects? Is this a justification for a ramp up in basic research funding (I would support this!)?
I vote for the Keynesian public works option, but feel free to convince me otherwise in the comments.
I’m with you on the keynesian public works option as the better of the two. I look to a study by Austin Goolsbee, suggesting that the majority of R&D spending just goes towards salary payments for R&D workers who have an inelastic labor supply to begin with. Incorporating the increased wage factor implies not only that traditional estimates of R&D spending effectiveness are overstated but also that “government funding directly crowds out private inventive activity”.
Comment by A.S. — May 28, 2009 @ 10:46 a.m.