Around 1985, a large, imposing, energetic man walked into my office and began telling me about his research on technology adoption and farm-system choices. He introduced himself as Bruce McCarl from Oregon State. I had just finished a paper on adoption, and I was embarrassed that I had ignored his work. So I read some […]
Bruce McCarl: An Unsung Hero of Climate Change Economics Read More »
On Thursday, April 9, after my class, I felt pain in my chest. I was supposed to attend Isha Ray’s retirement party, but instead I went home. After a while, the pain subsided. The next evening, it returned, so I went to the emergency room at Kaiser. They immediately performed an EKG and, after ruling
Losing a Gallbladder, Gaining Perspective Read More »
Several weeks ago, I was invited to participate in a series of University of Notre Dame conferences on environmental sustainability—first in Castel Gandolfo and now in Rome. The project was inspired by Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si'(“Praised Be”), which framed care for the planet as an urgent moral responsibility closely linked to human dignity and justice, particularly for
Learning About Environment and Faith Read More »
In early February, I participated in the Ashby Workshop on the social impacts of artificial intelligence (AI), held at the Salamander Resort in Middleburg, Virginia. The workshop was organized by Fathom, a philanthropy-supported nonprofit, and brought together about 150 participants under strict no-attribution and no-recording rules. The group was deliberately multidisciplinary, including AI researchers, scientists, ethicists, economists, and policymakers.
Learning enjoying and assessing AI Read More »
I got a wonderful gift from Thomas Reardon, a volume of Thomas Kuhn’s classics. I should have read it before, but I didn’t, and reading it, I understood why it’s a “great” book. It presents a convincing conceptual framework, compelling narrative without excessive jargon, and presents interesting and clear examples. The book presents an original
The year 2025 was marked by continuity and change—personally and professionally. It was a year of deepening connections with family as the next generation grows, and defines its own paths, continued teaching and mentorship at Berkeley, and engagement with colleagues across continents. My golden years are still golden When you are young, you dread old
My Annual Review – 2025 Read More »
I recently returned from Tahiti and Moorea in French Polynesia, where I attended a conference on Sustainable Island Health at the UC Berkeley Gump South Pacific Research Station. The meeting brought together scientists, policymakers, and local leaders to imagine how French Polynesia—one of the most stunning places on Earth—might become a global model of sustainable development
Building a Blue Bioeconomy in Paradise Read More »
The Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ARE) at UC Berkeley has a glorious history. Among its illustrious alums is John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006), one of the twentieth century’s leading public intellectuals and economists. Another is Philip Habib, a distinguished diplomat who played a significant role in easing Cold War tensions. Lawrence Klein (1920–2013) won the Nobel Prize in
A comprehensive new textbook, Agricultural Economics and Policy, by David Zilberman, Ruiqing Miao, and Jian Rong (World Scientific). Over the past forty years, I have taught graduate courses in agricultural and resource economics. When I was a graduate student at Berkeley, no course in this area was offered. The faculty who had previously taught it had
Bridging Theory, Evidence, and Practice in Food, Resources, and Sustainability Read More »
Moshe Safdie is a master builder, a world leading architect who aims to address people’s social problems by designing buildings. I first met Moshe Safdie when we were recipients of the Wolf Prize. Safdie radiated the quiet authority of someone whose work speaks for itself, yet he was generous with his time and insights. He
“If Walls Could Speak” by Moshe Safdie -Architecture and Lessons for Economics Read More »