<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white">The Economist Jan
18th 2014 <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white">Finance and economics</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b class="">
Economists are getting to grips with the impact of climate change</b><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;" class=""><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21594252-economists-are-getting-grips-impact-climate-change-weather" class="">http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21594252-economists-are-getting-grips-impact-climate-change-weather</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b class="">Excerpts</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white">
THE "polar vortex" that brought freezing weather to North America
chipped roughly $3 billion off American output in a week. It was a reminder
that extreme weather has economic consequences even in the richest countries
and that climate change --which may usher in even wilder fluctuations --is
likely to have a big economic impact.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white">A recent burst of studies look
at how large it may be, adding useful detail to the initial efforts, such as
the Stern review of 2010. The results suggest that climate change may be having
an effect already; that the weather influences economies through a surprisingly
wide range of channels; but that calculating the long-run effects of climate
change is harder than estimating the short-run impact of weather.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white">It is often assumed that the economic effects of climate change will be
confined mainly to poor countries. That may be wrong. A study of time-use
surveys and temperatures in the United States found that when temperatures
reach 100°F (38°C), the labour supply in farming, forestry, construction and
utilities falls by an hour a day, compared with what happens at 76-80°F. These
are outdoor activities, which may explain why workers fail to show up. But a
study of call centres also showed that each 1°C rise between 22°C and 29°C cut
labour productivity by 1.8%. And in car factories in America, a week of outside
temperatures above 90°F reduced output by 8%.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white">
Lastly, the weather influences basic conditions of life and hence factors of
production. In America each additional day above 32°C raises the annual
age-adjusted mortality rate by 0.1% relative to a temperate day (10-15°C).
In India the rate increases by almost
0.8%. Heatwaves cause early deaths (especially of mothers and infants)
and, by affecting the harvest, damage nutrition. This in turn has long-lasting
effects on the economy.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white">
But the new literature is a start….It shows the multiple channels that economists of the climate must
heed. It suggests that climate change is not something that will affect only poor
countries, or hit rich ones only in the distant future. And --who knows--
it may one day show how public policy, now so ineffective, might stem the
emissions that are causing the mess in the first place.<o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<!--EndFragment--><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">=================================<br class="">“...many scientists say deep emissions cuts are necessary … to prevent … <br class="">dangerous consequences of global warming. </div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">"Getting from here to there would require a massive economic shift.”<br class=""><br class="">Rachel Pannett and Jeffrey Ball. “Australia Approves Energy Bill.” <br class="">The Wall Street Journal p.A7, August 21, 2009</div></div></div></div>
</div><div class=""><div>----------------------------------------------------------------------<br class="">“The gap between high- and low-income families has widened steadily </div><div>since about 1980, hitting a new high every year since 1985. “<br class=""><br class="">Business Week, November 21, 1994, p. 72.</div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div>
<br class=""></body></html>