Environmental Economics: Perspectives on Climate Change | Harvard University

The course is designed as a broad survey covering the most critical topics in environmental economics today. Economics, the science of how scarce resources are allocated, is at the core of many of our most challenging environmental issues, and therefore vitally important. In a world of increasing scarcity and competing demands, economic analysis can guide public policy to efficient utilization of resources. Market failures are the cause of many of our most serious environmental problems but can be remedied with economic tools. Getting prices to reflect true costs, providing productive incentive structures, and explicitly valuing environmental amenities are the primary goals.