Module 6 Resources: Environmental and Public Economics¶
Interactive Simulations (McCreary)¶
These browser-based simulations let you explore Module 6 concepts hands-on. All simulations are from Dan McCreary's Introduction to Economics (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
| Simulation | What It Teaches | Try It |
|---|---|---|
| Negative Externality Visualizer | Shows how pollution causes the market to overproduce — the gap between private cost and social cost is the externality | Open |
| Public Goods Game | Simulates the free rider problem: each player decides whether to contribute to a shared fund, revealing why voluntary provision fails | Open |
| Tragedy of the Commons | Models how a shared resource (fishery, pasture) is depleted when each user acts in self-interest without governance | Open |
| Tax Incidence Explorer | Adjust supply and demand elasticities to see how the burden of a Pigouvian tax shifts between buyers and sellers | Open |
| Policy Claim Evaluator | Practice evaluating the logic and evidence behind common economic policy claims — including environmental and tax policy arguments | Open |
| Feedback Loops | Visualizes positive and negative feedback loops — crucial for understanding how environmental degradation can create self-reinforcing cycles | Open |
Economist Stories (McCreary)¶
Biographical narratives of economists and activists whose work connects to this module's themes.
| Economist | Key Insight | Read It |
|---|---|---|
| Elinor Ostrom — Communities and the Commons | Communities can govern shared resources without privatization or top-down regulation — the first woman to win the economics Nobel | Open |
| Wangari Maathai — Trees, Women, and Development | Linked environmental sustainability with women's empowerment and grassroots economic development — Nobel Peace Prize 2004 | Open |
Textbook Readings¶
| Book | Relevant Chapters / Sections |
|---|---|
| Chang, H.-J. (2014). Economics: The User's Guide | Ch. 11: Environment and sustainability |
| Wheelan, C. Naked Economics | Ch. 3: Government and the Economy (externalities, public goods) |
| Varoufakis, Y. Talking to My Daughter About the Economy | Ch. 7-8: The environment and the future |
| Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons | Ch. 1-3: The problem, the framework, the cases (for advanced readers) |
| Staley, S. R. (2018). Contemporary Film and Economics | Ch. on environmental economics and film |
| Langlois, R. N. Economics Through Film (UConn) | Wall-E unit: externalities, economic growth, sustainability |
| Mankiw, N. G. Principles of Economics | Ch. 10: Externalities; Ch. 11: Public Goods and Common Resources |
Videos¶
- Elinor Ostrom's Nobel Prize Lecture — nobelprize.org, ~45 min. Ostrom explains her life's work on commons governance in her own words.
- "Externalities — Economics Explained" — YouTube, ~12 min. Clear visual explanation of negative and positive externalities with real-world examples.
- "Tragedy of the Commons — Explained" — Marginal Revolution University, ~8 min. Concise introduction to the commons problem and its solutions.
- "Carbon Tax vs. Cap-and-Trade" — Resources for the Future, ~10 min. Compares the two main market-based approaches to controlling emissions.
- "The Story of Stuff" — YouTube, ~21 min. Traces the environmental externalities of consumer goods from extraction to disposal.
Indian Context¶
- Climate and Commons in India — Van Panchayats, groundwater governance, and India's climate policy
- NREGA and Poverty — public goods provision and collective action in rural India
- Digital India — how digital public infrastructure creates positive externalities at national scale
Academic References¶
These are the key scholarly works referenced in this module, for students who wish to go deeper.
- Hardin, G. (1968). "The Tragedy of the Commons." Science, 162(3859), 1243-1248. DOI: 10.1126/science.162.3859.1243
- Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511807763
- Pigou, A. C. (1920). The Economics of Welfare. London: Macmillan. — The foundational text on externalities and corrective taxation.
- Coase, R. H. (1960). "The Problem of Social Cost." Journal of Law and Economics, 3, 1-44. DOI: 10.1086/466560
- Agrawal, A. & Ostrom, E. (2001). "Collective Action, Property Rights, and Decentralization in Resource Use in India and Nepal." Politics & Society, 29(4), 485-514. DOI: 10.1177/0032329201029004002
- Nordhaus, W. D. (2019). "Climate Change: The Ultimate Challenge for Economics." American Economic Review, 109(6), 1991-2014. DOI: 10.1257/aer.109.6.1991