Nordhaus

Nordhaus is a surname of German origin. It occurs in various countries and may refer to different individuals, but in contemporary public discourse it is most commonly associated with the American economist William D. Nordhaus.

William D. Nordhaus (born 1941) is a Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University. His research integrates economics and climate science; he developed dynamic integrated climate-economy models, notably the DICE model, to assess how economic growth, greenhouse gas emissions, climate impacts, and policy interact over long horizons. In 2018, Nordhaus was co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for work on integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis. The models he developed are used to estimate the social cost of carbon and to explore optimal policy paths for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

DICE stands for Dynamic Integrated Climate-Economy; RICE is Regional Integrated Climate-Economy. These models link economic outputs with emissions and climate outcomes to quantify costs and guide policy. Nordhaus's work has influenced policy discussions and modeling in environmental economics, energy economics, and public finance. The Nordhaus surname also appears in other contexts, but the economist William D. Nordhaus remains the most widely cited bearer of the name.