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1、TOPIC7,ECON237EXHAUSTIBLERESOURCESTurnourattentiontotheeconomicsofnaturalresourceuse.Naturalresourceshaveunusualcharacteristics,asaresult,weneeddifferentmodelstoanalyzeuseoftheseresources.Unlikemodelswehavebeendealingwith,thesemodelsexplicitlyincorporatetime.I.ECONOMICCLASSIFICATIONOFNATUR
2、ALRESOURCESThefollowingclassificationschemefornaturalresourcesisusefulfromaneconomicperspective:A.Exhaustible(Depletable)ResourcesResourceswhosestockcannotbeincreased,atleastinleastintimeperiodsofrelevancetohumans,i.e.,inbiologicaltime.Examples:coal,oil,steel,aluminum,copper,otherminerals.
3、Candivideexhaustibleresourcesintotwocategories:1.Non-recyclable--e.g.,fossilfuels:coal,naturalgas,fueloil(motoroilcanbe)2.Recyclable--e.g.,steel,aluminum,copperB.RenewableResourcesResourceswhosestockisincreasedorreplenishedovertimebybiologicalgrowthprocesses.Examples:forests,fisheries,othe
4、rplant/animalpopulations.Theserenewableresourcescanbedepletedinthatonecandriveaspeciestoextinction.(Water,whichisnotaplantoranimal,canalsobeconsideredarenewableresource.)Issueofconcerntoeconomistsishowsocietyshouldusetheseresourcesovertime.Istheresomesociallyoptimaltimepathofuse?1More,spec
5、ifically:Forexhaustibleresources:Howshouldsocietyallocatescarceexhaustibleresourcesovertime?Forrenewableresources:Atwhatratesorwhenshouldsocietyharvestrenewableresources?Toanswerthesequestionsweneedtofirstexploretheconceptofdynamicefficiencyandtheuseofdiscounting.II.DISCOUNTINGANDDYNAMICEF
6、FICIENCYThusfarhavebeenconsideringstaticefficiency:maximizingnetsocialbenefitsinagivenperiodoftime.Assumedthatwecouldlookateachtimeperiodseparately,orindependently.So,forexample,weexaminedthesociallyoptimalyearlyemissionsofsomepollutant.Withnaturalresources,however,theissueishowtoutilizeth
7、eresourceovertime.Wecan'tlookateachtimeperiodseparately:ifweusesomeofanexhaustibleresourcetoday,thatmeanslessisavailabletomorrow.Sodecisionstodayinfluenceopportunitiesavailabletomorrow.Therefore,wehavetoconsideralltimeperiodssimultaneously.[Naturalresourcescan
