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Evaluating the case for supporting renewable electricity / David Newbery, Vox, 20/07/2018The cost of supporting the production of renewable energy seems eye-watering. This column argues, however, that the alternative of a future energy system lacking the benefits of low-cost zero-carbon technologies is even more costly. While most renewable technologies are not yet competitive on cost with mature carbon-intensive technologies, support for renewables can be justified by learning spillovers... lireThe economics of blockchains / Markus K Brunnermeier and Joseph Abadi, Vox, 17/07/2018Cryptocurrencies and the underlying distributed ledger technology have exploded into public consciousness over the last few years, with devotees insisting that the technology will revolutionise financial transactions and ownership data. This column identifies a ‘blockchain trilemma’ whereby no ledger can fully satisfy the three desirable properties of decentralisation, correctness, and cost-efficiency. It further explains how distributed ledgers enhance competition but introduce costs above and beyond the well-known electricity costs... lireWhat’s the use of economics? / Lars Syll, Real World Economics Review Blog, 21/07/2018The simple question that was raised during a recent conference … was to what extent has – or should – the teaching of economics be modified in the light of the current economic crisis? The simple answer is that the economics profession is unlikely to change. Why would economists be willing to give up much of their human capital, painstakingly nurtured for over two centuries? For macroeconomists in particular, the reaction has been to suggest that modifications of existing models to take account of ‘frictions’ or ‘imperfections’ will be enough to account for the current evolution of the world economy. The idea is that once students have understood the basics, they can be introduced to these modifications... lireLinky : les compteurs intelligents aident-ils vraiment à réduire la consommation d’électricité ? / Corinne Faure et Joachim Schleich, Grenoble École de Management (GEM), the Conversation, 20/07/2018Le déploiement de compteurs électriques dits « intelligents » est en bonne voie au sein de l’Union européenne (UE) : un récent rapport de la Commission européenne indique ainsi que la plupart des États membres devraient être équipés à hauteur de 80 % à l’horizon 2020... lireFossil-Fuel Doublespeak / Lili Fuhr and Hannah McKinnon, Project Syndicate, 16/07/2018Since the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2015, too many policymakers have fallen for the oil and gas industry’s rhetoric about how it can help to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions... lireThe Oil Context of the Trump-Putin Meeting / Amy Myers Jaffe, Energy, Security, and Climate, 16/07/2018There appears to be a list of conflicts and other kinds of issues that U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin touched upon during their meeting in Helsinki, and progress on any of them is bound to be slow. Oil made a headline during Putin’s remarks in the public session: Specifically, Putin reminded the U.S. president in front of the international media that “neither of us is interested in the plummeting of (oil) prices and the consumers will suffer as well” and called out oil as an area for collaboration, as expected... lireAux Pays-Bas, les retombées vertueuses de la justice climatique / Marta Torre-Schaub, juriste, spécialiste du changement climatique et du droit de l’environnement et la santé, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, The conversation, 16/07/2018Les Pays-Bas viennent de présenter une loi inédite sur le changement climatique. Sans doute l’une des conséquences positive de l’affaire Urgenda, premier procès climatique à avoir eu lieu en Europe en 2015... lire