Articles by Ryan Avent
Ryan Avent is a freelance economics writer living in Washington, D.C. He blogs at ryanavent.com, and at The Economist's Free Exchange.
All Articles
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A carbon policy is likely to be less devastating than nature, or oil markets
Reihan responds. Let me just say a few more things. First, I described his characterization of carbon pricing as “insane” based on this: What we need is a $100 billion prize or set of prizes to the person or firm or non-profit entity that can devise a cost-effective means of scrubbing the atmosphere of carbon […]
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An acknowledge-and-do-nothing strategy is little better than denialism
Reihan Salam writes an incredibly disappointing, and boggling, blog post here, on his preferred strategies for dealing with climate change. Disappointing, because if Reihan, one of the best conservative writers out there, doesn’t get the logic of carbon pricing, then there’s little hope for some sort of conservative renaissance on climate change policy. Boggling, because […]
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Public transit ridership is up, but no one’s talking about a better system
But how long will they wait for infrastructure improvements? Photo: Sharat Ganapati One year ago, as America prepared for the traditional summer-driving crush, op-ed pages nationwide fretted over a disturbing trend. Only a decade earlier, oil had plumbed depths near $10 per barrel, and dirt-cheap gas had allowed us to roll over the nation’s blacktop […]
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A final entry on the cap-and-trade debate
The ongoing economic discussion concerning the differences between cap-and-trade and carbon taxes has attracted a number of eminent participants. Not only Mark Thoma, but Brad DeLong now (with an assist from Megan McArdle), offers some excellent commentary on the issues involved.