9.1 experts

Question 1

Given that command-and-control (CAC) has limited effectiveness and higher costs, why have governments consistently used CAC for environmental policy?

Answer 1

better accepted by the public mostly because they do not want to be higher taxes that come with incentive-based regulation

also, rational ignorance

Question 2

public choice

Answer 2

uses economic theory to explain which government policies are chosen

Question 3

technocrat

Answer 3

bureaucrat that is highly knowledgeable and able to set policy in an efficient manner

Question 4

Do experts know the true effects of possible policies?

Answer 4

no

Question 5

Phillip Tetlock

Answer 5

conducted a fifteen-year study to determine if experts in a field can reliably forecast the future

FINDINGS:
- best experts only did slightly better than chance at predicting outcomes
- experts were good at rationalizing their failures
- no one ever successfully explained their predictions in analogous ways

Question 6

why does it matter who is to blame for inefficiency?

Answer 6

If a firm chooses an inefficient technology, the firm loses money and that is a feedback mechanism which
will help correct the firm’s behavior

If the EPA chooses an inefficient technology, the firm loses money but the EPA does not lose any money

Regulators are faced with a difficult job. But if they make a mistake, there may not be much of an incentive to encourage them to correct it