Hersh Shefrin : Paris, Pittsburgh, and Silver Linings : Huffington Post
Hersh Shefrin, the Mario L. Belotti Professor of Finance and a pioneer of behavioral finance, published an article in the Huffington Post on the importance of looking at the silver linings of Trump’s heavily controversial decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord. For Professor Shefrin, the silver linings offer a crucial promise of positive hope in the face of bad news.
An excerpt from the article:
The first silver lining is that in suggesting that he is willing to renegotiate the terms of a climate accord, President Trump backed away from his previous ridiculous assertion that climate change is a hoax and the corresponding view that climate scientists are charlatans. More importantly, EPA head and environmental foe Scott Pruitt demurred when asked by the media whether the President still considered climate change to be a hoax.
The second silver lining is that the Paris accord is poorly constructed and structurally flawed. I have argued that it is too similar to a New Year’s resolution in that it articulates desirable behavior, but is too vulnerable to temptation, which is why short-term benefits “trump” the potential for long-term gains.
Learn more about professor Hersh Shefrin »