Martin Weitzman facts for kids

Martin Lawrence Weitzman (born April 1, 1942 – died August 27, 2019) was a very important economist. He was a professor of economics at Harvard University. Many people considered him one of the most influential economists in the world. His later work focused a lot on environmental economics, especially about climate change and how to deal with big disasters.

About Martin Weitzman

Martin Weitzman was born Meyer Levinger in New York City in 1942. His birth parents were Joseph and Helen Levinger. After his mother passed away and his father returned from World War II, he was adopted by Samuel and Fannie Weitzman. They were elementary school teachers, and they gave him the name Martin Lawrence Weitzman.

Martin Weitzman was a very bright student. He earned a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Physics from Swarthmore College in 1963. He then studied at Stanford University, getting a master's degree in Statistics and Operations Research in 1964. Later, he went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and earned his Ph.D. in Economics in 1967.

He started his teaching career at Yale University in 1967. Later, he moved to MIT. In 1989, he joined the economics department at Harvard University. He taught there until he passed away in 2019.

His Research and Ideas

Martin Weitzman studied many different topics in economics. He was very interested in how the economy affects our environment. This included things like:

• How to count the value of nature in our economy (green accounting).
• The economics of protecting different kinds of plants and animals (biodiversity).
• How rules and laws can help the environment.
• The economics of climate change.

Climate Change Economics

A big part of Weitzman's work was about climate change. Usually, when people think about climate change, they look at the costs of stopping global warming. This means how much it costs to reduce pollution. They also look at the benefits, like slowing down climate change.

Weitzman added something important to this idea. He said we must also think about the really bad things that could happen if climate change gets out of control. These are called "catastrophic" events. By including these big risks in his analysis, he showed that we need to act quickly to control climate change.

Wages and Unemployment

Weitzman also studied how different ways of paying workers affect jobs. He looked at "fixed wages" (where workers get the same pay no matter what) versus "profit sharing" wages. With profit sharing, employees get more money when a company is doing well.

He suggested that companies using profit sharing might have fewer people lose their jobs. He also thought these companies might do better when the economy is struggling.

Prices Versus Quantities

Another famous idea from Weitzman was about "price controls" versus "quantity controls." Imagine you want to reduce pollution. Should you set a price for pollution (like a tax)? Or should you set a limit on how much pollution is allowed (a quantity)?

Weitzman showed that the best choice depends on how quickly costs and benefits change. If the cost of reducing pollution goes up very fast, then setting a price might be better. But if the damage from pollution gets much worse very quickly, then setting a strict limit (quantity) might be more effective.

Teaching Career

Martin Weitzman started teaching at Yale University in 1967. He became an associate professor there. In 1972, he moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an associate professor. He became a full professor at MIT in 1974 and taught there until 1989.

From 1989 until his death, Weitzman was a professor at Harvard University. He taught advanced courses to students studying environmental and natural resource economics.

Other Important Roles

Besides his teaching and research, Weitzman also helped many important organizations. He worked as a consultant for:

• The World Bank
• International Monetary Fund
• Agency for International Development

He also helped edit several important economics journals. These included the Journal of Comparative Economics and the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.

Awards and Recognition

Martin Weitzman received many honors for his work:

• He was a National Science Foundation Fellow from 1963 to 1965.
• He was a Fellow of the Econometric Society starting in 1976.
• He became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1986.
• He received a special award from the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists for his lasting contributions.
• He was a main speaker at the World Congress of Environmental Economists in 2002.

His Books and Papers

Martin Weitzman wrote three books that shared his economic ideas:

Books

• The Share Economy: Conquering Stagflation: In this book, he suggested that paying workers a fixed wage could cause economic problems like stagflation (when prices go up but the economy doesn't grow). He proposed that sharing profits with workers could help.
• Income, Wealth, and the Maximum Principle: This book was for advanced students. It helped them understand how to solve complex economic problems and how income and wealth are connected.
• Climate Shock (with Gernot Wagner): This book explains that what we already know about global warming is serious. But what we don't know, especially about very bad outcomes, could be even worse.

Papers

Weitzman published over 90 research papers in economics journals. Here are a couple of his later papers:

• Weitzman, M.L. (2018). "Potentially Large Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity Tail Uncertainty". This paper looked at how much the Earth's temperature might change.
• Weitzman, M.L. (2019). "Prices Versus Quantities across Jurisdictions". This paper discussed whether it's better to control pollution with prices (like taxes) or by setting limits (quantities).