By Timothy Damon ’12 The economics behind policies to address climate change can be highly confusing, especially with different economists reaching very different conclusions. One example of such disagreement is seen between the work of The Stern Review and the review of the Review made by Nordhaus. Their point of contention centers upon the implementation of an economic principle known as “discounting”. But what is discounting? Simply put, discounting is a means of comparing the relative values of present and future costs or benefits. The idea is that $100 dollars would benefit you more today than it would a year from now. This is due to the fact that time itself has a value; money now can be invested to generate more over time. Thus, your $100 dollars today could, just by … Read entire article »