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Risky Climate

Cost-Benefit Analysis in the Time of Coronavirus and Climate Change

Like climate economics, the economics of Covid-19 mean we need to take aggressive action, not incremental steps.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin look on during a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic at the White House on March 25, 2020.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin look on during a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic at the White House on March 25, 2020.

Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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As a climate economist, I’m used to being called a living, breathing oxymoron: “Which is it? Climate or economy? Pick your side!” It can’t possibly be both. Turns out, of course, it very much can. Economists have studied climate for decades. While it has taken a while for economists to catch up with climate scientists to incorporate the latest science and to sound the alarm bells on the world’s woeful lack of action, the verdict, by now, is clear: Cut CO₂ pollution to far below where it currently is to protect lives and livelihoods alike.

Fast forward to Covid-19, when everything is happening much faster. It also hits home much more directly—not least because my wife is a gynecologist at NYU Langone Medical Center and Bellevue, New York City’s oldest public hospital and one at the epicenter of the City’s pandemic response.