Event Details

Speaker:  Gabe Lade, Assistant Professor, Economics Dept., Macalester College

In April 2014, Flint, Michigan switched its drinking water supply from the Detroit water system to the Flint River as a temporary means to save $5M. Over the course of eighteen months, it was revealed that the switch exposed residents to dangerous levels of lead, culminating in an emergency declaration in October 2015. In this presentation, Prof. Lade will examine economic impacts as this crisis unfolded. It is estimated that averting expenditures since the switch have exceeded $20M and the value of the Flint housing stock has fallen by $345M to $500M. Over this same period, state and federal spending has exceeded $343M.

Gabe Lade is an applied microeconomist. His research studies environmental policies in the agricultural and energy sectors. He has held various affiliations currently and in the past, including with the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University, the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Refreshments provided

This EnviroThursday is co-sponsored by the Environmental Studies and Economics Departments.