Ebook: Can We Afford the Future?: The Economics of a Warming World

This is a clear, readable first book for the non-economist, to start understanding the economics around climate change, and the various differing arguments by economists.

Unlike climate *science*, where most real scientists agree on the fundamentals, it seems that real economists have some fundamental arguments about climate *economics*, although that might be because I have more exposure to the former than the latter. It is often hard for a layperson learning a new topic to know whether disagreements are serious or relatively minor.

In any case, it really helps to have a good overview of the arguments, before diving into the details.

I've studied the Stern Review, the Nordhaus DICE model, Lomborg books, other books, other papers, and other discussions ...
and reading this book first would certainly have saved me effort.

So, start here, then sample his references for other viewpoints.

I especially liked his 4 bumper stickers, which handily summarize the book:

Your grandchildren's lives are important
We need to buy insurance for the planet
Climate damages are too valuable to have prices
Some costs are better than others