October 13, 2009

California Adopts Feed-in Tariff for Distributed Wind and Solar Power Systems, with Nobel Prize Notes

Michael Giberson Not all of the news this week is about Nobel prize surprises. The Los Angeles Times reports that California is adopting feed-in tariffs for distributed renewable power production: Under AB 920, the state Public Utilities Commission will set a rate for utilities to compensate customers whose solar or wind systems produce more power …

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Vincent and Elinor Ostrom and Public Ownership of Natural Resources

Michael Giberson Among the news stories in response to Elinor Ostrom’s sharing of the Nobel prize for economics, an article from Alaska which mentions the important role played by Vincent Ostrom in the development of that state’s treatment of natural resources.  Both Ostroms worked on related ideas and management of natural resources was central to …

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Paul Romer on the Nobel

Lynne Kiesling Wow. Paul Romer’s blog post congratulating Elinor Ostrom for yesterday’s Nobel is dramatic. And, in my view, entirely accurate. I really appreciate his “skyhooks and cranes” invocation: Most economists think that they are building cranes that suspend important theoretical structures from a base that is firmly grounded in first principles. In fact, they …

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Henderson, Smith on the Nobel and Its Implications for Economics

Lynne Kiesling Today David Henderson has penned the traditional Wall Street Journal commentary on yesterday’s Nobel award to Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson. He provides an excellent summary of the importance of their work, and I recommend it to you highly. In fact, David’s theme reconciles what some commenters have observed as a political or …

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High Costs Drive Government to Take over Government-Owned Electric Utility in Mexico

Lynne Kiesling This story will have you shaking your head in disbelief in multiple dimensions. The electricity industry in Mexico is government-owned but decentralized, with multiple public distribution utility companies. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, over the weekend the Mexican government took over the second-largest of these government-run distribution companies, Luz y Fuerza …

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