The Rehnquist Choice or Economics of the Environment

The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment That Redefined the Supreme Court

Author: John Wesley Dean

In 1971, William Rehnquist seemed the perfect choice to fill a seat on the United States Supreme Court. He was a young, well-polished lawyer who shared many of President Richard Nixon's philosophies and faced no major objections from the Senate. But in truth, the nomination was anything but straightforward. Now, for the first time, former White House counsel John Dean tells the improbable story of Rehnquist's appointment.

Dean weaves a gripping account packed with stunning new revelations: of a remarkable power play by Nixon to stack the court in his favor by forcing resignations; of Rehnquist himself, who played a role in the questionable ousting of Justice Abe Fortas; and of Nixon's failed impeachment attempt against William 0. Douglas. In his initial confirmation hearings, Rehnquist provided outrageous and unbelievable responses to questions about his controversial activities in the '50s and '60s -- yet he was confirmed with little opposition. It was only later, during his confirmation as Chief Justice, that his testimony would come under fire -- raising serious questions as to whether he had perjured himself Using newly released tapes, his own papers, and documents unearthed from the National Archives, John Dean offers readers a place in the White House inner circle, providing an unprecedented look at a government process, and a stunning expose of the man who has influenced the United States Supreme Court for the last thirty years.

Library Journal

One of the central figures of President Nixon's Watergate scandal sets out to describe how William Hubbs Rehnquist, at the time an obscure Justice Department attorney, came to be appointed to the Supreme Court, later to become Chief Justice. White House counsel Dean takes regretful credit for having suggested Rehnquist because the latter was a strict constructionist (and very conservative), exceedingly talented, a writer of great lucidity, and blessed with a distinguished background that included being first in his class at Stanford Law School and clerking for Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson. Dean was there, of course, and also has access to verbatim transcripts of the time. And so we hear Nixon and company's banal and repetitive discussions interweaving political considerations-regional balance, gender, and race concerns, for example-with rants about political philosophy and enemies. This is the sort of audiobook that does not benefit from histrionics, and reader Michael Rafkin does a good job, though this reviewer regretted his attempts at Nixon impersonation. Still, the book has been widely praised, and this audio version belongs in collections of modern political history.-Don Wismer, Cary Memorial Lib., Wayne, ME

Book about: Assistência Prática/Vocacional Contemporânea

Economics of the Environment

Author: Robert N Stavins

Over its previous four editions, Economics of the Environment has established itself as the standard student reader for environmental economics courses. A rich complement to other texts, this accessible reader provides a balanced selection of classic and contemporary readings to firmly ground students' understanding in the field's primary literature. The Fifth Edition has been carefully reorganized; over a third of the selections are new.

Author Biography: Robert N. Stavins is the Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Director of the Environmental Economics Program at Harvard University.

Table of Contents:

1	How economists see the environment	1
2	The tragedy of the commons	9
3	The problem of social cost	23
4	Environmental regulation and the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing : what does the evidence tell us?	51
5	Toward a new conception of the environment-competitiveness relationship	92
6	Tightening environmental standards : the benefit-cost or the no-cost paradigm?	115
7	The contingent valuation debate : why economists should care	129
8	Valuing the environment through contingent valuation	146
9	Contingent valuation : is some number better than no number?	173
10	Contingent valuation and lost passive use : damages from the Exxon Valdez oil spill	194
11	The value of life in legal contexts : survey and critique	223
12	Is there a role for benefit-cost analysis in environmental, health, and safety regulation?
13	An eye on the future	255
14	Cost-benefit analysis : an ethical critique	260
	Replies to Steven Kelman	270
15	Economic instruments for environmental regulation	277
16	Environmental policy making in a second-best setting	302
17	What can we learn from the grand policy experiment? : lessons from SO[subscript 2] allowance trading	334
18	It's immoral to buy the right to pollute	355
	Replies to Michael Sandel	357
19	The environment and globalization	359
20	Confronting the environmental Kuznets curve	399
21	Creating incentives for international cooperation : strategic choices	421
22	Reflections on the economics of climate change	445
23	The cost of combating global warming : facing the tradeoffs	462
24	Kyoto's unfinished business	469
25	The role of economics in climate change policy	479
26	Sustainability : an economist's perspective	503
27	Economics of the Endangered Species Act	514
28	Conflicts and choices in biodiversity preservation	533
29	The choice of regulatory instruments in environmental policy	547
30	Environmental policy since Earth Day I : what have we gained?	593
31	Environmental regulation in the 1990s : a retrospective analysis	616
32	The impact of economics on environmental policy	649