This article first appeared in The Guardian 21 February 2019
As we head into another cycle of climate change politics beware the economic doomsayers
Whenever Australia starts to have a serious conversation about addressing climate change headlines appear in newspapers of an economic apocalypse. This happened again in the Australian today based on work by a long-standing economic modeller of climate policy, Brian Fisher.
So, what do economic modelling exercises tell us of the impact of reducing Australia’s contribution to global warming and more importantly what do they not? Should we cower in fear of action or embrace the inevitable change and manage the human and economic costs of transition?