Taming Two Scorpions: Climate Science Tipping Points Meet Finance Tail Risks

When two quite different disciplines make eerily similar predictions about the future of the planet and human societies, they deserve notice. Climate scientists warn that we may be heading toward a Hothouse Earth “inhospitable to … human societies,” with “increasingly catastrophic impacts” possibly “worldwide societal breakdown.”       Finance and actuarial science emphasize the importance of tail risk (rare adverse events).  Planning and preparing for them is essential to the survival of insurance companies, pension funds, banks, and the entire financial system.   In Climate Salon 6, Economist Dan Friedman and Environmental Sociologist Andy Szasz team up to show how these disciplinary perspectives interconnect and what they say about the path forward.

Tues Apr 28 3:30-5 pm, Center for Adaptive Optics Atrium or via zoom (free and open to the public!)

Dan Friedman is Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus at UCSC. The author of 6 books, over 100 research articles and the recipient of 14 National Science Foundation grants, Dan has begun to apply his expertise in finance and evolutionary game theory to issues in environmental economics.

Andrew Szasz is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies.  At UCSC he taught courses on Classical and Contemporary Social Theory, Environmental Sociology and Environmental Justice. He has written books and articles on environmental regulation, the grassroots toxics movement, green consuming, environmental justice and climate change.

CO-SPONSORED by UCSC Climate Action Now, the Earth Futures Institute, and Baskin Engineering.