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In 2006, he was elected as an Honorary Fellow at Peterhouse, Cambridge.<ref>"Peterhouse" (college magazine) Jan 2008, page 3; also http://www.pet.cam.ac.uk/fellows/fellows.html</ref>
In 2006, he was elected as an Honorary Fellow at Peterhouse, Cambridge.<ref>"Peterhouse" (college magazine) Jan 2008, page 3; also http://www.pet.cam.ac.uk/fellows/fellows.html</ref>


Stern was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree by the [[University of Warwick]] in 2006,<ref>University of Warwick (2006). [http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/NE1000000213201/ University of Warwick Honorary Degrees announced for July 2006]. Retrieved 31 October 2006.</ref> an Honorary Doctor of International Relations degree by the [[Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations]] in 2007 and an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the [[University of Sheffield]] in 2008.<ref>University of Sheffield (2008). [http://www.shef.ac.uk/mediacentre/winterdegrees.html Media Centre]</ref>
Stern was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree by the [[University of Warwick]] in 2006,<ref>University of Warwick (2006). [http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/NE1000000213201/ University of Warwick Honorary Degrees announced for July 2006]. Retrieved 31 October 2006.</ref> an Honorary Doctor of International Relations degree by the [[Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations]] in 2007, an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the [[University of Sheffield]] in 2008<ref>University of Sheffield (2008). [http://www.shef.ac.uk/mediacentre/winterdegrees.html Media Centre]</ref> and an Honorary Doctor by the [[Technische Universität Berlin]] in 2009.<ref>http://www.pressestelle.tu-berlin.de/uploads/media/CL_041109_PI-Ehrenprofessur_eng.pdf</ref>


Lord Stern participated at one of the showings of [[The Age of Stupid]] at The RSA. At the after-showing [[webcast]] panel discussion<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ageofstupid.net/webcast |title=Indie Screenings Launch Event |publisher=The Age of Stupid |date= |accessdate=2009-09-09}}</ref> was director Franny Armstrong, journalist [[George Monbiot]], economist [[Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford|Nicholas Stern]], and the [[Met Office]] head of climate impacts Richard Betts.
Lord Stern participated at one of the showings of [[The Age of Stupid]] at The RSA. At the after-showing [[webcast]] panel discussion<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ageofstupid.net/webcast |title=Indie Screenings Launch Event |publisher=The Age of Stupid |date= |accessdate=2009-09-09}}</ref> was director Franny Armstrong, journalist [[George Monbiot]], economist [[Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford|Nicholas Stern]], and the [[Met Office]] head of climate impacts Richard Betts.

Revision as of 15:28, 10 November 2009

This article is about the economist. For film producer, see Nicholas Stern (film producer).
Nicholas Stern
Nationality United Kingdom
Academic career
FieldPolitical economics
InstitutionLondon School of Economics
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
University of Cambridge
ContributionsThe Stern Review

Nicholas Herbert Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, FBA (born 22 April 1946, Hammersmith) is a British economist and academic. He is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government and Chair of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics (LSE).

Biography

Stern is the son of the late Bert Stern and Marion Stern and nephew of Donald Swann—half of the Flanders and Swann partnership. Richard Stern, former Vice-President, World Bank, and Brian E Stern, former Vice-President Xerox Corporation, are his brothers. He was the Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank from 2000 to 2003, and was recently a civil servant and government economic advisor in the United Kingdom. In June 2007, Stern became the first holder of the I. G. Patel Chair at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and head of the newly created India Observatory within the Asia Research Centre. In 2008, he was also appointed Chair of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, a major new research centre also at LSE.

After attending Latymer Upper School, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and his Doctor of Philosophy in economics at Nuffield College, Oxford. He was a lecturer at University of Oxford from 1970 to 1977, and served as a Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick from 1978 to 1987. He taught from 1986 to 1993 at the London School of Economics, becoming the Sir John Hicks Professor of Economics. From 1994 until 1999 he was the Chief Economist and Special Counsellor to the President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. His research focused on economic development and growth, and he also wrote books on Kenya and the Green Revolution in India. From 1999 until 2000 Stern was Chairman of the consultancy London Economics founded by John Kay.

After his time working for the World Bank, Stern was recruited by Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, to work for the British government where, in 2003, he became second permanent secretary at H.M. Treasury, initially with responsibility for public finances, and head of the Government Economic Service. Having also been Director of Policy and Research for the Commission for Africa, he was, in July 2005, appointed to conduct reviews on the economics of climate change and also of development, which led to the publication of the Stern Review. At the time, he ceased to be a second permanent secretary at the Treasury though he retained the rank until retirement in 2007; the review team he headed was based in the Cabinet Office.

It was reported that Stern's time at the Treasury was marked by tensions with his boss, Gordon Brown:[1]

[...] several Whitehall sources told The Times that Mr Brown did not like some of the advice he received from Sir Nicholas, including some “home truths” about long-term trends in the economy and he never broke into the chancellor's tight-knit inner circle. [...] He subsequently lacked a real role and spent most of his time working on major international reports on global warming and alleviating poverty in Africa. His doom-laden report on the risks of failing to address climate change, published in October, caused tensions within the Government by triggering a debate on environmental taxes and leading to calls for big policy changes.

The Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change was produced by a team led by Stern at HM Treasury, and was released in October 2006. In the Review, climate change is described as an economic externality. Regulation, carbon taxes and carbon trading are recommended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is argued that the world economy can lower its greenhouse gas emissions at a significant but manageable cost. The Review concludes that immediate reductions of greenhouse gas emissions are necessary to reduce the worst risks of climate change. The Review's conclusions were widely reported in the press. Stern's relatively large cost estimates of 'business-as-usual' climate change damages received particular attention.[2][3]In a document issued by HM Treasury, several economists are quoted praising the Stern Review, including James Mirrlees, Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz and Robert Solow.[4]Economists Partha Dasgupta, David Maddison, Robert Mendelsohn, William Nordhaus, Richard Tol,[5]Hal Varian, Martin Weitzman, Gary Yohe, and Kenneth Arrow have all criticised aspects of the Stern Review.[6]The Stern Review team has responded to criticisms of the Review in several papers.[7]Stern has also gone on to say that he underestimated the risks of climate change in the Stern Review.[8]Stern's approach to discounting has been debated amongst economists. The discount rate allows economic effects occurring at different times to be compared, and is a part of the Stern Review's formal cost-benefit analysis. A high discount rate reduces the calculated benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Using too low a discount rate wastes resources because it distorts investment decisions.[9]Most studies on climate change economics use a higher discount rate than that used in the Stern Review. Some economists support Stern's choice of discount rate[10][11]while others are critical.[12]Another criticism of the Stern Review is that it is a political rather than an analytical document. Newspaper columnist Charles Moore compares the Stern Review to the UK Government's 'dodgy dossier' on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.[13]Some critics, like Wietzman and Arrow, accept Stern's conclusions but do not agree with his analysis. A common criticism of the Review is that it is 'right for the wrong reasons'.[14]

In a speech given in 2007 at the Australian National Press Club, Stern called for one per cent of gross global product to be employed in global warming-related environmental measures.[15] He also joined the Cool Earth advisory board. In 2009, Stern linked recovery from the global economic crisis with an effective response to climate change.[16][17]His book, Blueprint for a Safer Planet, was published in April 2009.

In 2009, he became a member of the International Advisory Council of the Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation.[18]

Awards and recognition

Stern was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1993;[19] he is also an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In the 2004 Birthday Honours List he was made a Knight Bachelor, for services to Economics.[20][21][22] On 18 October 2007, it was announced that Stern would receive a life peerage and was to be made a non-party political peer (i.e would sit as a cross-bencher in the House of Lords).

In 2006, he was elected as an Honorary Fellow at Peterhouse, Cambridge.[23]

Stern was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of Warwick in 2006,[24] an Honorary Doctor of International Relations degree by the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations in 2007, an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Sheffield in 2008[25] and an Honorary Doctor by the Technische Universität Berlin in 2009.[26]

Lord Stern participated at one of the showings of The Age of Stupid at The RSA. At the after-showing webcast panel discussion[27] was director Franny Armstrong, journalist George Monbiot, economist Nicholas Stern, and the Met Office head of climate impacts Richard Betts.

References

  1. ^ Hurst, G. (8 December 2006). "Climate change author quits Treasury after Brown freezes him out". Times Online. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  2. ^ Robert Peston (29 October 2006). ""Report's stark warning on climate"". BBC.
  3. ^ ""Climate change fight 'can't wait'"". BBC. - video, executive summary and slide show.
  4. ^ Hoffman, G. (2006). "Responses to the Stern Review" (PDF). HM Treasury. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  5. ^ Yohe, G. and R.S.J. Tol (August 2008). "The Stern Review and the economics of climate change: an editorial essay". Climatic Change. 89 (3–4): 231–240. doi:10.1007/s10584-008-9431-z. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  6. ^ Arrow, K.J. (2007). ""Global Climate Change: A Challenge to Policy"". The Economists' Voice: Vol. 4 : Iss. 3, Article 2. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  7. ^ UK Office of Climate Change (no date). "Stern Team - Additional papers and Presentations by Lord Stern". Retrieved 2009-05-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Adam, D. (18 April 2008). "I underestimated the threat, says Stern". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  9. ^ Arrow, K.J.; et al. (1995). "Intertemporal Equity, Discounting, and Economic Efficiency. In: Climate Change 1995: Economic and Social Dimensions of Climate Change" (PDF). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2009-05-14. {{cite web}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)
  10. ^ Cline, W. (January 5, 2008). "Comments on the Stern Review". Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  11. ^ Heal, G. (April 2008). "Climate economics: A meta-review and some suggestions. NBER Working Paper 13927" (PDF). The National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  12. ^ Weisbach, D.A. and C.R. Sunstein (12 August 2008). "Climate Change and Discounting the Future: A Guide for the Perplexed". Reg-Markets Center Working Paper No. 08-19; Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 08-20; Harvard Law School Program on Risk Regulation Research Paper No. 08-12. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  13. ^ Moore, C. (27 January 2007). "What's black and white and green all over? Another dodgy dossier". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  14. ^ Dietz, S. (2 May 2008). "A long-run target for climate policy: the Stern Review and its critics". Simon Dietz's homepage. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  15. ^ Brown, Bob (2008-07-09). National Press Club Address (PDF) (Speech). National Press Club. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  16. ^ "Stern McKinsey Interview".
  17. ^ "GFC and Climate Change". 2009-03-08.
  18. ^ http://www.china-inv.cn/cicen/governance/management_international.html
  19. ^ The British Academy (2006). British Academy Fellows Archive. Retrieved 31 October 2006.
  20. ^ "No. 57315". The London Gazette (invalid |supp= (help)). 12 June 2004.
  21. ^ "No. 57391". The London Gazette. 24 August 2004.
  22. ^ Press and Information Office - LSE (2006). News and Views: Volume Thirty-Four • Number Nine • 21 June 2004. Retrieved 31 October 2006.
  23. ^ "Peterhouse" (college magazine) Jan 2008, page 3; also http://www.pet.cam.ac.uk/fellows/fellows.html
  24. ^ University of Warwick (2006). University of Warwick Honorary Degrees announced for July 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2006.
  25. ^ University of Sheffield (2008). Media Centre
  26. ^ http://www.pressestelle.tu-berlin.de/uploads/media/CL_041109_PI-Ehrenprofessur_eng.pdf
  27. ^ "Indie Screenings Launch Event". The Age of Stupid. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
Business positions
Preceded by World Bank Chief Economist
2000–2003 		Succeeded by


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