William Nordhaus, who died on October 30 at the age of 85, was the world’s most frequently cited climate economist, according to the article. He shared the 2018 Nobel Prize and helped bring global warming into the framework of neoclassical economics. A carbon tax, the article notes, became his most prominent recommendation for addressing Climate change.
Nordhaus was not initially known for work on climate. In the early 1970s, he was better known for criticizing The Limits to Growth, a report by the Club of Rome, an international group bringing together scientists, economists and industrialists.
His interest in carbon dioxide grew out of contact with American futurists who promoted nuclear energy. Like them, Nordhaus believed fast breeder reactors could offer a lasting answer to the energy crisis.
In a 1973 article, “The Allocation of Energy Resources,” he argued that conserving oil was unnecessary because the power of innovation should not be underestimated. He favored using inexpensive resources in the present while investing in the development of fast breeder reactors. The available excerpt does not include the rest of the article’s discussion of his climate policy or the carbon tax.
Sources: Le Monde Économie.