In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Gilbert Metcalf, who is a professor at Tufts University and a university fellow at Resources for the Future. Metcalf recently published a working paper with coauthor Alan Finkelstein Shapiro about the potential effects of a carbon tax on the US economy—specifically, a carbon tax that’s designed to meet the US climate target under the Paris Agreement. In the paper, Metcalf and Finkelstein Shapiro estimate the effects of a carbon tax not just on overall GDP, but also on employment, labor force participation, wages, and companies’ decisions about investing in clean energy technologies. Raimi and Metcalf discuss the modeling efforts that were involved, the surprising results, and the implications for policymakers.

References and recommendations:

“The Macroeconomic Effects of a Carbon Tax to Meet the US Paris Agreement Target: The Role of Firm Creation and Technology Adoption” by Alan Finkelstein Shapiro and Gilbert Metcalf; https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/the-macroeconomic-effects-of-a-carbon-tax-to-meet-the-us-paris-agreement-target/

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A. Caro; https://www.robertcaro.com/the-books/the-power-broker/

Chicago Architecture Foundation Center River Cruise; https://www.cruisechicago.com/tours/architecture