JaneCops
New member
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2026
- Messages
- 22
I'm working on my thesis about integrated assessment models, and naturally I had to dive into Nordhaus's 2024 research paper. Y'all. The citation trail is absolutely INSANE. 
The paper itself is this reflective piece in the Annual Review of Resource Economics where he looks back at his intellectual journey . But here's the thing—every paragraph references like five different foundational works, and I'm over here playing archaeological dig trying to understand the evolution of his thinking. He talks about his time at MIT with Solow and Samuelson, his years at Yale, the development of the DICE model... and I'm supposed to synthesize ALL of this?
What's actually helping is that there's other 2024 scholarship engaging with his work. Like this paper by Ramiro Peres for the Central Bank of Brazil that revisits the whole Stern-Nordhaus debate about discount rates . Apparently the disagreement boils down to whether we should use observed time preferences (Nordhaus's "descriptive" approach) or treat all generations equally (Stern's "normative" approach). And get this—Peres suggests maybe we should stop fighting and just use "target-consistent prices" based on the Paris Agreement instead .
There's also a really cool thesis from Politecnico di Milano that actually extends Nordhaus's model by adding natural capital depreciation and investments . They found that including these factors could reduce projected 2100 temperatures by 14%! Like, Nordhaus built this framework and now people are literally building new rooms onto his house.
I guess my point is—reading the 2024 paper alone isn't enough. You have to read the conversations around it. The critiques, the extensions, the applications. Nordhaus himself says his career was shaped by "chance encounters, aperçus, dead ends, and pure chance" . So maybe my thesis journey is allowed to be messy too?
Anyone else doing deep dives on Nordhaus? What other 2024 pieces should I be looking at?
The paper itself is this reflective piece in the Annual Review of Resource Economics where he looks back at his intellectual journey . But here's the thing—every paragraph references like five different foundational works, and I'm over here playing archaeological dig trying to understand the evolution of his thinking. He talks about his time at MIT with Solow and Samuelson, his years at Yale, the development of the DICE model... and I'm supposed to synthesize ALL of this?
What's actually helping is that there's other 2024 scholarship engaging with his work. Like this paper by Ramiro Peres for the Central Bank of Brazil that revisits the whole Stern-Nordhaus debate about discount rates . Apparently the disagreement boils down to whether we should use observed time preferences (Nordhaus's "descriptive" approach) or treat all generations equally (Stern's "normative" approach). And get this—Peres suggests maybe we should stop fighting and just use "target-consistent prices" based on the Paris Agreement instead .
There's also a really cool thesis from Politecnico di Milano that actually extends Nordhaus's model by adding natural capital depreciation and investments . They found that including these factors could reduce projected 2100 temperatures by 14%! Like, Nordhaus built this framework and now people are literally building new rooms onto his house.
I guess my point is—reading the 2024 paper alone isn't enough. You have to read the conversations around it. The critiques, the extensions, the applications. Nordhaus himself says his career was shaped by "chance encounters, aperçus, dead ends, and pure chance" . So maybe my thesis journey is allowed to be messy too?
Anyone else doing deep dives on Nordhaus? What other 2024 pieces should I be looking at?
