Homework 1, due 30 sep 2009

1. A bacterial culture is started in a jar at 9am.  The population of
bacteria doubles every minute.  The jar is completely full at 10am.
At what time was the jar 1/2 full?

2. Explain Hardins' "Tragedy of the Commons" and why it 
applies (or doesn't apply) to the tuna fishing industry.

3. Bernie Maddof, ex-chairman of NASDAC stock exchange is going to prison 
for cheating investors out of more than 50 billion dollars.  
He told his rich clients that he could guarantee 20% yearly return forever. 
a. Is this possible?
b. If your Mom invested 1,000,000 in 1965, how much would she have thought she 
had in 2008, when Madoff was arrested? 
c. Suppose you eventually inherited the account and waited until 2065.  
How much would you think had?  

4. What is the "precautionary principle"?  Give reasons for and against it.
Do you agree with it or not?

5. For a theory to be "scientific" it must
 a. be proven true
 b. be testable, i.e. be able to be proven false
 c. be widely accepted by the majority of the population
 d. be widely accepted by the majority of other scientists
 e. be able to explain a wide variety of phenomena

6. Give a counterexample to answer c. above, i.e. a theory that is
 widely accepted but is not scientific.

7. Give a counterexample to answer e. above, i.e. a theory
that explains a wide variety of phenomena but is not scientific.

8. When all environmental costs are included gasoline should cost about
$1/gallon more than it does now.  This is an example of
a. overshoot
b. market efficiency
c. market failure
d. input reduction
e. economic undershoot