Centennial Lecture Series: “How to Save the Planet” with David Tarr '65, former lead economist of the World Bank

Rowan alumnus and former lead economist for the World Bank David Tarr will return to the University to present “How to Save the Planet” as part of the Centennial Lecture Series.

Free and open to public, the event is sponsored by the Department of History, the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, the Office of Alumni Engagement, the College of Humanities & Social Sciences, the Rohrer College of Business, and the School of Earth & Environment.

Economic policies under the auspices of the World Trade Organization can play a vital role in saving the planet by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, according to Dr. David Tarr ’65, who will return to his alma mater for this Centennial Lecture Series presentation.

Two-thirds of the world’s CO2 emissions originate in developing countries and in Russia, where CO2 regulations are weak, Tarr notes. In 2018, William Nordhaus, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on climate change, proposed a “Climate Club” in which members would price or tax CO2 emissions and impose a penalty surcharge for non-members.

In his lecture, Tarr will discuss how Nordhaus's “Climate Club” could be successfully and pragmatically implemented, making it the best way to save the planet.

About the speaker: After graduating from then-Glassboro State College in 1965 with a major in social studies, Dr. David Tarr went on to a career in economics, becoming one of the institution’s most famous and successful alumni. He earned his master’s degree in economics from Ohio University and his doctorate from Brown University. Tarr has provided advice to governments on a wide range of international trade policy issues in 30 countries. He played an important role in the assistance of the World Bank to former Communist countries that were attempting to transition to market economies. Author of more than 75 refereed journal articles and the writer or editor of 14 books or monographs, Tarr is one of the leading experts in computable general equilibrium economic modeling. In 2003, he was named a Global Trade Analysis Project research fellow for his role in advancing economy-wide analysis of trade policies in developing countries. Formerly a senior economist at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for many years, Tarr was a lead economist at the World Bank from 1996-2005. Currently, he is an adviser to the International School of Economics in Tbilisi, the capital in the country of Georgia, and an international consultant with a special interest in international trade policies for growth, poverty reduction and how to employ these policies to save the planet. He received the 1998 Distinguished Alumnus Award from Rowan.