About

The aim of this blog is to contribute, mainly from an economic perspective, to the understanding of environmental and natural resource issues.  I hope it will be of interest to students of economics and others with an interest in the environment.

I do not seek to promote any one school of economic thought to the exclusion of others.  Economic theories and methods are like tools: all have limitations, and what matters is to find suitable tools for particular tasks.  There is also an important role for non-theoretical descriptive economics, as a preliminary to theorising and policy analysis.

Each post will address a separate topic and be largely self-contained (hence “droplets”).  Most will address global or international issues, cases illustrating points of wide applicability, or general points of theory.  But since I live in the UK, I shall sometimes write about UK issues.

Wherever possible, posts will be supported by appropriate references and links.  Where posts present results of my own research involving mathematical or statistical analysis, I will also aim to facilitate reproducibility by making supporting proofs or workings available for download.

About me

I first studied economics as part of a BA in economics and philosophy at Oxford University, gaining first class honours (1974).  I went on to obtain a PhD in philosophy (1980).  Subsequently I worked for many years as an accountant in the local government and higher education sectors, becoming a qualified accountant (ACMA / CGMA) and gaining an MBA (University of Strathclyde 1992).

In 2009, reflecting my increasing interest in environmental issues, I gave up full-time accountancy work and took an MSc in applied environmental economics with the University of London.  This I completed in 2011, achieving a distinction.  I am continuing to pursue study and research in environmental economics, with particular interests in the valuation of non-market environmental goods, in long-term macroeconomic models involving depletion of natural resources, and in policy to address climate change.

I live in London and am married with one daughter.

Feedback and Contact

Comments are welcome, via the comments facility at the bottom of each post.  If you wish to contact me privately, please email me at  abaileyXXX at gmail dot com, replacing the X’s with the digits 1, 6 and 7 (this formulation is to discourage spam).

Adam Bailey

Updated 12 January 2024