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Thomas F. Cooley is the Richard R. West Dean and the Paganelli-Bull Professor of Economics at New York University Stern School of Business, as well as a Professor of Economics[…]

Businesses have to see it as the profit opportunity it is, says Cooley.

Question: Is business better than government in dealing with climate change?

Thomas Cooley:  Oh, I think that's absolutely true.  So I think business has to see it as profitable, as a profit opportunity.  And clearly, it is.  So if you look at the investment banks, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, they all are right in the forefront of investing in climate change because they see it as climate change opportunities, because they see it as just a natural place for them to invest, and a huge opportunity.  And clearly it is.  So I think that business does have to be in the forefront of it.  And you know, the government-- I often think that the government gets in the way of things, you know.  The law of unintended consequences always bites when the government tries to be the regulator.

Recorded: 3/21/08


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