Warming the World or Modern Tribal Development

Warming the World: Economic Models of Global Warming

Author: William D Nordhaus

Humanity is risking the health of the natural environment through a myriad of interventions, including the atmospheric emission of trace gases such as carbon dioxide, the use of ozone-depleting chemicals, the engineering of massive land-use changes, and the destruction of the habitats of many species. It is imperative that we learn to protect our common geophysical and biological resources. Although scientists have studied greenhouse warming for decades, it is only recently that society has begun to consider the economic, political, and institutional aspects of environmental intervention. To do so raises formidable challenges of data modeling, uncertainty, international coordination, and institutional design.

Attempts to deal with complex scientific and economic issues have increasingly involved the use of models to help analysts and decision makers understand likely future outcomes as well as the implications of alternative policies. This book presents in detail a pair of models of the economics of climate change. The models, called RICE-99 (for the Regional Dynamic Integrated model of Climate and the Economy) and DICE-99 (for the Dynamic Integrated Model of Climate and the Economy) build on the authors' earlier work, particularly their RICE and DICE models of the early 1990s. They can help policy makers design better economic and environmental policies.

Interesting textbook: Death by Supermarket or History of Food

Modern Tribal Development: Paths to Self Sufficiency and Cultural Integrity in Indian Country

Author: Dean Howard Smith

First Nations people know that a tribe must have control over its resources and sustain its identity as a distinct civilization for economic development to make sense. With an integrated approach to tribal societies that defines development as a means to the end of sustaining tribal character, Dean Howard Smith offers both conceptual and practical tools for making self-determination and self-sufficiency a reality for Native American Nations. Through a century of changes in federal policy, tribal development has typically been viewed through mainstream society's goals and system, or according to some pan-Indian framework. Instead, Smith argues that any development prospectus must be created and evaluated within the dictums of the individual indigenous social structure. Otherwise, a tribe must choose between cultural integrity and economic development. Smith draws from his extensive experience as a consultant, teacher, and instructor to offer a wide variety of detailed case studies, and readers will learn from both successful and failed development initiatives. While focused on the United States, his work will be applicable for indigenous peoples in many parts of the world. In addition to tribal employees and communities, "Modern Tribal Development" will be important reading for scholars and students in Native American studies, development studies, community planning, and cross-cultural studies.

Author Biography: Dean Smith is associate professor of economics at Northern Arizona University. He is Mohawk. His family comes from the Grand River reserve of the Six Nations in Ontario. He received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. He works with the Center for American IndianEconomic Development and is on the teaching faculty of the National Executive Education Program for Native American Leadership. He is the faculty advisor for the Native American Business Organization. His publications primarily focus on economic development on Indian reservations, but he has also published papers on pricing strategies and environmental issues.