ClimatepoliticsandtheNorwegianLanguage1
SigveTjøtta
Professor,DepartmentofEconomics,UniversityofBergen,Norway
Email:Sigve.Tjotta@uib.no
TranslatedbyDr.PhilosErikBye
10August2025
INTRODUCTION:IMPRECISELANGUAGEOPENSTHEDOORFORUTOPIEAN CLIMATEPOLICY
Language“becomesuglyandinaccuratebecauseourthoughtsarefoolish,buttheslovenliness of our language make it easier for us to us to have foolish thoughts”, wrote George Orwell in PoliticsandtheEnglishLanguage in1946(Orwell,2000,p.349). Hegaveapieceoflanguage advicetosharpenourthinking:
Neveruseametaphor,simile,orotherfigureofspeechwhichyouareusedtoseeingin press,(Orvell,2000,p.359).
Figure 1 shows the increased use of the words “klimakrise” which translate to “climate crisis and“grønneskifte”whichissimilarto“greenshift”inNorwegianmediaoverthepast20years. IfwefollowOrwell’sadvice,weshouldthereforebecarefulaboutusingsuchtypesofterms.
Whenthewords“greenshift»areusedfrequently,andthewordslosemeaningbeyondthefact that green shift means something desirable. Frequent use of green shift dulls the mind. The writerdoes not have to makean effortto find arguments. Heknows that when a policy is part
1 ThisisatranslationofthepublishedarticleinSamfunnsøkonomen(JournaloftheNorwegian AssociationofEconomists):“Klimapolitikkogdetnorskespråk”(2023,3,16-22)bySigveTjøtta. Thelinktothepaperis:Klimapolitikkogdetnorskespråk-Samfunnsøkonomen. ErikByehas translatedthepaperintoNorwegian,andSigveTjøttahasmademinorcorrectionsofthetranslated version. TjøttawantstothankHansK.Hvide,MartinLanglo,NinaSerdarevicandKjellVaage,and Samfunnsøkonomen’seditorJanYngveSandforcommentsandinputonversionsoftheNorwegian article.
ofthegreenshift,itmustbegood.Thereaderdoesnothavetomakeanefforteither,sheknows thatwhentheproposedpolicyispartofthegreenshift,itmustbegood.
Thesameistruewhenusingtheword“climatecrisis”.Frequentuseofthewordclimatecrisis reduces the meaning of the word beyond the fact that the word means something undesirable. The writer may use the word because he knows that the reader also perceives it as something undesirable.Itbecomesunnecessaryforboththewriterandthereadertoaskquestionssuchas: Have human emissions of greenhouse gases created a crisis in the past? Will continued greenhouse gas emissions create acrisisina hundredyears?Canscientists reallypredictwhat willhappeninahundredyears?
Figure1:Annualuseofthewords“klimakrise”and“grønneskifte”inNorwegianmediafrom 2000to2021,measuredinthousandmentions.Mediaincludesprintnewspapers,online newspapers,radioandTV.DatafromAtekst,April14,2023.
Sloppylanguagefacilitatesutopianclimatepolicy.Inmyopinion,subsidiesforelectriccarsare an example of utopian policy. The subsidies are linked to reduced tax revenues from the purchase and use of electric cars.According to this year's Norwegian state budget, total state subsidiesforelectriccarsamount toNOK39.4billionin2022(Prop.1LS(2022),Box1.1,p. 185). The subsidies have increased by NOK 10 billion a year in the last two years. With the same increase, electric car subsidies will be NOK 50 billion in 2023. In addition, there are municipalfavoritismforelectriccarssuchaslowertollratesandparkingfeesthanforgasoline anddieselcars.
Anargumentforsubsidizingelectriccarsisthatthesubsidiesincreasedemandforelectriccars and that this increased demand drives innovation in electric cars. There will be more cars on the roads, but fewer gasoline and diesel cars. The hope is that this will reduce the total greenhousegasemissions.Butelectriccarsubsidiesalsoreducedemandandthustheincentives forinnovationinalternativemeansoftransport.Innovationinbicycles,electricbicycles,petrol cars,carsharingandpublic transportbecomeslessprofitable.WhatistheeffectofNorwegian electric car subsidies on greenhouse gas emissions?Michael Hoel (2020, p. 33)considers that the subsidies do not contribute to reducing global emissions, but adds that “the world is too complicatedforsuchabombasticconclusiontobedrawn”.
IshareHoel'sassessment.FiftybillionNOKin annualsubsidiestogetpeople todriveelectric cars with little or no effect on global greenhouse gas emissions is, in my opinion, utopian climate policy. Politicians spend more money to get people to drive electric cars than to take trains. The state budget for 2023 plans to spend 31.5 billion kroner for railway purposes, of which 5.2 billion will be used to subsidize train tickets (The Annual Budget, Norway (2022–2023),p.29).Theintentionwastophaseoutelectriccarsubsidies,butthetyrannyofthestatus quomakesit difficult to reverse the subsidypolicy.Peoplegetusedto subsidizedprivate cars, anditbecomespoliticallydifficultto removethesubsidies.Otherexamplesofutopianclimate policyareelectrificationoftheshelfandsubsidiesforwindpower,seemyassessmentinTjøtta (2010).
Adam Smith explains in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, first edition published in 1759, the emergency of utopian policies. The use of scaremongering takes people’s real concerns and inflatesthemtothe“madnessoffanaticism,”andhecontinuedthattheleadersofdiscontented suchmovements nevergiveplausibleexplanations ofwhatto dowith these concerns. Instead, they propose to change the system altogether. Concerned people easily become “intoxicated withtheimaginarybeautyofthisidealsystem,thoughnoonehasanyexperienceofit”(Smith, 1759,VI.ii.2.15,p.232).Smithwentontowarnagainsttheestablishmentofutopianpolicies. SomemaybesurprisedthatSmithwroteaboutthis.Thisyearmarks300yearssinceSmithwas born.Histheoriesareold,buttheyarestillrelevant.Smithpublishedhisfirstbook,TheTheory ofMoralSentiments(TMS),whenhewasayoungprofessorof36.Thesecondandfinalbook, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), was published when Smithwas53.SmithhimselfvaluedTMSmorehighlyofthetwobooks.Heworkedonituntil
theend.AsignificantlyexpandededitionofTMSwaspublishedin1790,justbeforehediedat theageof67.
TMSisatheoryofhowwemorallyjudgeeachotherandourselves,itisnotatheoryofmoral conduct.Smith’sandhistime’sunderstandingofthewordmoralityismorecomprehensive thanitistoday.Moralityincludesethics,butalsoaestheticsandopinions.TMSthusexplains theprocessofpoliticalopinionformation,whichopinionsareright,andwhicharewrong.The basisforopinionformationisemotionorsentiment,notreason.Sometimespoliticalutopias cangainafootholdwithdevastatingeffect evenifthatisnottheintention.
Inthefollowing,Iwillfirstreviewtheuseofcrisismetaphorsandutopianmetaphors.Iwill thenarguethatitisthehumansearchforconformitythatpavesthewayforwoollylanguage andwhichinturnlaysthefoundationforutopianclimatepolicy.Finally,Iwilldiscusshowto breakoutofconformity.
CRISISMETAPHORS
UNSecretary-GeneralAntónioGuterressaidattheopeningofCOP27inSharmelSheikhthat “weareonahighwayto climatehell,”referringtoanAC/DChitfrom1979,nottoresearch. TheUNPanelonClimateChange’sgoalistosynthesizeclimateresearch.Thefirstreportwas publishedin 1992, thesixth in 2022.Thepanel is dividedinto threeworking groups.The first group synthesizes scientific research, the second summarizes the consequences of climate change,andthethirdsummarizesactionresearch.Eachworkinggroupwritesasummaryreport for decision-makers. I searched for variations of the words “climate crisis” and “climate emergency”inthesummaryreports.2 Ifoundnone.ThePanelonClimateChangedoesnotuse thewordsclimatecrisisinitssummaryreportstodecision-makers.
Oneexplanationfortheabsenceofthewordsclimatecrisisisthatclimatemodelsforemission are “projections and are neither predictions nor forecasts” (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,AR6 WGIII, 2022, p. 21). The Panel on Climate Change has been explicit
2 Thefollowing14summaryreportsforpolicymakersfromthefirstpublishedin1992tothose publishedin2022.ThereportsareAR6WG1(2021),AR6WG2(2022),AR6WG3(2022),AR5WG1 (2013),AR5WG2(2014),AR5WG3(2014),AR4WG1(2007),AR4WG2(2007),AR4WG3(2017), TARWG1(2001),TARWG2(2001),TARWG3(2001),SARWG1(1995),SARWG3(1995),WG1 (1992),WG2(1992)andWG3(1992).
about the lack of predictive power of climate models since its inception. Bert Bolin (1925–2008),theIPCC'sfirstchairmanfrom1988to1997,writesinhisbookaboutthehistoryofthe IPCC. He writes that the word prediction should be used with caution because people can be misledintobelievingthatsuchmodelscansaymoreaboutthefuturethantheyactuallycan.
Thisdistinctionbetweenpredictionsandscenariosisstillnotadequatelyappreciated andhassometimes misled thepublic,journalists,andpoliticians…Theword «prediction»shouldindeedbeusedwithgreatcare(Bolin,2007,p.66,myitalics).
The Climate Panel uses the word projections for climate simulation, not predictions, to emphasizethatthemodelsdonotpredictlikelyfutureclimatedevelopments(WG1,SAR,1995, p.39).
The terminology of the The Climate panel shows that the panel is a political institution, not a truth-seeking research institution. By institution I mean formal and informal rules for how scientists behave in scientific communities and how scientists behave in the climate panel. Disagreement,questioningandopen discussionaretheethosoftruth-seekingscience.Itisthe dutyofscientiststoquestionaclaimregardlessofhowmanypeopleagreewiththeclaim.The ethosoftheUNPanelonClimateChangeis consensus.ThemembersofthePanelonClimate Changeshouldagreeamongthemselvesonwhattoreporttodecision-makers.3Asthemembers of the Panel will of course differ in their assessments, they agree to report the degree of consensus as “low, medium or high”.An example: “Formosteconomic sectors, the impacts ofdriverssuchaschangesinpopulation,agestructure,income,technology,relativeprices, lifestyle, regulation, and governance are projected to be large relative to the impacts of climate change (medium evidence, high agreement”, (AR5, WGII, SPM, p. 19, original bold). The sentence is heavy. Translated into simpler language, it could be as follows: "The panelmembersagreethattheeconomicimpactofclimatechangeisrelativelysmallcompared tootherconditions."
The head of the Norwegian Petroleum Fund, Nicolai Tangen, said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that “in the future, the fund will promote its own climate proposals in
3 Ihaveelaboratedonthedifferenceinthedevelopmentofmoralvaluesbetweentruth-seekingand consensus-seekinginstitutionsinTjøtta(2020aandb).
companies where the boards are not active. We will be clearer in our language towards companies that are slow in this area. To put the climate issue at its core: In a world that is uninhabitable due to climate change, the value of the Norwegian Petroleum Fund is zero” (Aftenposten, January 17, 2023). The head of the Norwegian Petroleum Fund is clear in his language. But his claim that the planet will become uninhabitable deviates from the Climate Panel’s summary that the economic effects of climate change are small. The head of the NorwegianPetroleum Fund’sstatementsshowthatpoliticizationhasreachedtheinstitutionof NorgesBank.
UTOPIANMETAPHORS
The word “bærekraft”, which we translate to “sustainability”, was used 25,630 times in Norwegian media last year, an increase from 45 times in the year 2000. “Sustainability manager” was first registered in 2012 and had a peak in 2021 when it was used 226 times (Atekst,January31,2023).
Should a company take social responsibility? Hire a sustainability director? Because people knowthatwhenacompanyhiresasustainabilitydirector,thecompanywantstodosomething good.Whetheritisreallygood,neithertheboardorthepeoplehavetothinkabout.
Greenshiftwasused4,614timesin2021,anincreasefrom37in2000.Inthegovernment's ClimateStatusandPlan(Prop1SpecialAttachment),variationsoftheword“green”areused 186times,mostofthetimesasanadjective.Someexamples:
Thegovernmentisfocusingon"greentransition,greeninnovation,greenvaluechains, greenvaluecreation,greenindustrialdevelopment,greenindustrialboostandNorway asagreenindustrialandenergynation".
Thegovernmentisalsofocusingon"newgreenindustries,greenshipping,green transitioninagriculture,greentransitioninallsectorsandgreentransitionofworking life".
Thegovernmentisworkingfor"agreenshiftandagreenerfuture".
Usingtheadjectivegreenshowsthatthegovernmentwantstodosomethinggood.Thewriters andreadersoftheplandonothavetodealwithquestionsabouttheeffectsofspendingmoney ongreenthings.Sinceitisgreen,itmustbegood.
“Themythliesinthesmallwords,”wroteGeorgJohanneseninhisreviewofthegovernment’s Long-Term Programme 1990–1993 (Johannesen, 1992, p. 113). In the 2022 state budget, in a sectionthatbegins withthegovernmentstatingthatthetransportsystemof thefuturerequires “emission-freetransportbothonland,atseaandintheair,”thissentenceappears:
“Forsomevehiclesandvesselsegments,zero-emissiontechnologyisnotsufficiently maturetobeusedonalargescaleyet”(Stmeld,p.6,myemphasis)
Whatdothesmallwordsactuallysay?Thelastword“yet”giveshopeandapromiseofchange. Drop the word “yet”, the sentence gives less hope. The word "some" says: relax, this only applies to a few technologies, fortunately not many zero-emission technologies. The words "sufficientlyripe"giveassociationstotheappleharvest.Theappleisnotripeyet,butwhenthe gardeninggovernmenttakesgoodcareoftheappletrees,theappleswill be ripeforpickingin thefall.Deletethesmallwordsandreplace"ripe"with"privatelyeconomicallyviable"andthe sentenceswillbecomeclearer.
Forsomevehicleandvesselsegments,zero-emissiontechnologyisnotprivately economicallyworthwhile.
In other words, the government considers that most vehicles with existing zero-emission technologies are privately economically viable and that a few technologies are privately economicallyunviable.Thegovernmenthopesthatsubsidieswillmakethesefewtechnologies privatelyeconomicallyviableoneday.
Doesthegovernmentreallybelievethatmostexistingzero-emissiontechnologiesareprivately economicallyviable?Whyisitnecessarytosubsidizethefewtechnologiesthatarenotprivately economicallyviable?
As shown in Figure 2, the use of the term “zero-emission vehicle” has increased significantly overthepasttenyears.Thegovernmentcalls electriccarszero-emissionvehiclesandusesthe
term “zero-emission vehicle” 25 times (Prop. 1 Special Appendix, p. 24). Are electric cars emission-free?No.Electriccarspollutetheenvironment;thegovernmentwritesinanotherpart of the state budget. External costs – excluding CO2 – associated with driving electric, petrol anddieselcarsareapproximatelythesame(Prop.1LS(2022),p.180).ElectriccarsemitCO2 indirectly both in the production of the car and the battery and in charging the car battery. Norwegian electricity grids are connected to Europe’s grid and on the margin, there are CO2 emissionsfromproducingelectricityaslongastheelectricityisproducedwithoil,gasorcoal. If the marginal CO2 emission comes from coal-fired power plants, CO2 emissions are higher forelectriccarsthanforgasolinecars,ifitcomesfromnaturalgasitislower(Holtsmark,2020, p.62).
The government is responsible for describing electric cars as zero-emission vehicles in the Government's climate status and plan (Separate appendix to Prop. 1 S (2022–2023)). What responsibility do writers in the Ministry of Climate and Environment have? It may be that the writersactuallybelievethatelectriccarsarezero-emissionvehicles.Butitmayalsobethatthe writersknow–whentheythinkaboutit–thatitisuntruebutstillwriteit. Why?Becausepeopleseekconformity.
Figure2:Useoftheword"zero-emissionvehicle"(“nullutslippskjøretøy”inNorwegian) in Norwegianmedia2000–2022.DatafromAtekst,January17,2023.
THEPARALYZINGEFFECTOFCONFORMITY
AdamSmithexplainsinTheTheoryofMoralSentiments(1759)howpeopleseekconformity.4 People are social and want to belong.Adam Smith explains – as a post-rationalization, not a reason–thatconformity isnecessary forpeopleto functiontogether.Peopleexpectustokeep appointments, if we have agreedto meet at one o'clock westrive to keep theappointment and apologizeifwefailedtodoso.Inadiscussion,peopleareexpectednottotalkovereachother, to raisetheir hands when they havesomething to say, and to follow the rule"takethe ball, not theman."
ButSmithwarnsthatconformitycanbeparalyzing.Conformitycaninhibitnewthinkingand politicalinnovation.Smithalsoexplainshowconformitycanbebroken.Smith’sexplanation isthesameasinVaclavHavel’sstoryaboutthegreengrocerinPrague
TheparalyzingeffectofconformityandhowtobreakoutofitisthethemeofVaclavHavel’s essay The Power of the Powerless (1978).Haveltellsaboutthegreengrocerwhoplacesthe sign“Workersoftheworld,unite”inhiswindowamongtheonionsandvegetables.Whydoes thegreengrocerdothat?Whatisitthathewantstosaytotheworld?Ishegenuinelyexcited aboutalltheworkersoftheworlduniting?Doeshisexcitementrunsodeepthathesimplyhas totelleveryoneelse?Hashereallythoughtabouthowsuchaunionoftheworkersofthe worldwouldworkandwhatthiswouldmean?
The same questions can be asked about companies and organizations that declare that their social mission is to contribute to green transition and sustainability. Why do banks, insurance companiesandculturalcentersdeclarethattheirsocialmissionistocontributetosustainability goals? Is it an expression that the board members' genuine enthusiasm is so fundamental that they just have to tell everyone? Has the bank board really thought through how the bank will contributetorealizingthesustainabilitygoals?Havetheyreallythoughtthroughhowthebank willcontributetothefirstandsecondsustainabilitygoalsoferadicatingallpovertyandhunger intheworld?Orhowthebankwillcontributetoachievinggoal14ofstoppingclimatechange?
4 Moderneconomistsalsorecognizethatconformityisimportantforpeopleandhavealsodevelopeda theoryofconformity,seeforexampleBernheim(1994)andreferencestherein.Bernheimincludes socialstatusintheutilityfunctiontogetherwithconsumption.Whensocialstatusisimportantrelative toconsumption,manyindividualswillbehavemoreconformallythantheunderlyingpreferences indicate.
The sustainability poster is used because everyone else is doing it. Displaying the poster is adapting to other people's expectations of what is right. Displaying the poster is being part of theconformistmovement.
If people refuse to display the poster "We are committed to sustainability", they will get into trouble. The banks can lose money. Worse still, the members of the bank board lose social standing.Are you on aboardthatdoesn't want to contribute to sustainability? Howpetty!You bankersarenowalwaysthinkingonlyaboutmoney.
In applications to the Research Council of Norway, applicants are required or encouraged to describe how their research can impact the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. In other words, the application must include the poster "My research supports the Sustainable Development Goals". Researchers who genuinely believe in the words of the poster have no problem placing the poster in their application. Researchers who are skeptical do so anyway because without the poster, they do not get money and whatcomes with it. Inorderto be able tolivealifeofresearchandtocontinuetheresearchheisinterestedin,heplacesthesigninhis application. The case manager at the Research Council checks whether the poster is in the application, that is her job. If an application does not contain the word sustainability, the application is not processed. She risks unpleasant things at work if she had processed it. She willalsolivealifeasabureaucratwithouttoomanyproblems.
The greengrocer's message to the outside world by putting up the poster "We contribute to sustainability"istosay"Ilivehereinthissociety,IknowwhatIhavetodo,Iamobedient,and thereforeIhavetherighttobeinpeaceandtosellmyvegetables."Ifthegreengrocerisforced to put up the poster "I fear being socially excluded, I fear losing money, and therefore I am obedient," he will not be indifferent to the words on theposter evenif the words aretrue.The greengrocerwill feelashamedofbeingforcedtoput upsuchaposterinthewindow.Afterall, thegreengrocerisahumanbeingwithdecency.
Why did the greengrocer haveto declarehis loyalty by putting up thesign?It seems pointless to demand that the greengrocer put up the sustainability sign in the window. People overlook the greengrocer's sustainability sign because they see the same sign in thebank, the insurance company,onthebus,atschool,andintheconcerthall.Thesigniseverywhere.
Thegreengrocerdisplayshissustainabilitysign,notbecauseanyonewillreaditorbeconvinced byit,butbecausebydisplayingthesign,thegreengrocersaysthathebelongstothecommunity. Hedoes as everyoneelse does, he wants to besocially included. Ifhe one daytakesdown the sign“wearecommittedtosustainability”,peoplemayquestionwhetherhereallybelongshere. Hefearsbreakingtherulesofthegameandtherebyriskingbeingsociallyisolatedinsociety. The real meaning of putting up the sign “we are committed to the green shift” has nothing to do with the text on the poster.The real meaning is that the greengrocer declares his loyalty to the green utopia. But by doing so, he becomes a player in the game and makes it possible for the game to continue. The bank manager, the researcher, and the caseworker at the research council who initially doubted the words of the poster, become part of the game by following conformity.
Thistypeofconformityopensthedoortoutopianclimatepolicies.Conformitycanleadtothe ideaandopinionnotonlyfallingoutsidethemorallyaccepted,butalsotothepersonexpressing itbeingimmoral.Peoplewhoquestiontheimaginedconsensuscanbelabeledimmoral,aswhen thethenUNSpecialEnvoyforClimateChangeGroHarlemBrundtlandsaidthatthescienceis settled and that it is immoral to raise questions about the seriousness of the situation (Brundtland, 2007). The lack of critical voices makes it easier to implement utopian climate policies.
CONCLUSION:HOWTOBREAKOUTOFCONFORMITY
People who worry about climate change should also worry about utopian climate policies.An example of utopian climate policies is 50 billion NOK a year to subsidize electric cars. The effect of 50 billion NOK on global greenhouse gas is negligible if there is any effect at all. Alternatively,thesebillionsinsubsidiescouldbespentonhospitals,schoolsandculture.
Inordertoachieve arealisticclimatepolicy,it isnecessarytobreakconformity bysharpening the language by following Orwell's language advice not to use words like green shifts, sustainabledevelopmentandclimatecrisis.Andwhenyouasareadercomeacrosssuchwords, be critical, the words probably hide unclear thoughts. This will make it more difficult to implementutopianclimatepolicies.
Sharpening the language requires a few people to break conformity. It takes a few people to stop putting the sustainability sign in the window. The greengrocer refrains from placing the
sign in the window, he wants to concentrate on delivering good vegetables at a good price to hiscustomers.Thebankboardsaysthatwedonotneedasustainabilitydirector,thebank'sgoal is to help its customers by realizing their wishes. Researchers can refrain from putting the sustainability poster in the application to the research council. Bureaucrats in the Ministry of Climate and Environment can say that it is inappropriate to write that electric cars are zeroemissioncars.
When people start to speak their minds, it rejects the rules of the game. People say that the emperor is naked. And since the emperor is actually naked, it may happen that other people wakeupanditismoredifficulttoimplementutopianclimatepolicies.
REFERENCES
Bernheim,B. D.(1994). ATheoryofConformity. Journal of Political Economy,102(5),841877.
Bolin, B. (2007). A history of the science and politics of climate change: the role of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. CambridgeUniversityPress.
Brundland, G. H (2007). Brundland’s speech at the UN Commision on Sustainble Development.
Havel V. (1978). The Power of the Powerless. Downloaded here: the-power-of-thepowerless.pdf(nonviolent-conflict.org)
Hoel, M. (2020). Nasjonalbudsjettet: Utsikter for petroleum, klima og elbiler. Samfunnsøkonomen,5,29-33.
Holtsmark,B.(2020).Elektrifiseringavveitransporten–hvaermiljøeffekteneogkostnadene? Samfunnsøkonomen,4,50-65.
Johannesen,G.(1992). Retorikkens tre ansikter. CappelensForlag,Oslo.
Orwell, G. (1946). Politics and the English Language, Horizon, 13(76), 252-265 from Orwell (2000,348-363).
Orwell,G.(2000).George Orwell: Essays.PenguinBooks,London.UK
Prop.1LS(2022).Skatter,avgifterogtoll2023.Detkongeligefinansdepartementet,Oslo.
Prop.1S(2022).Statsbudsjettet2023,Detkongeligefinansdepartementet,Oslo.
Prop. 1 Særskilt vedlegg til Prop 1 S (2022). Regjeringas klimastatus og – plan. Klima- og miljødepartementet,Oslo.
Smith,A. (1759/1976). The Theory of Moral Sentiments.The Glasgow Edition, Liberty Fund, Indiana.
Smith, A. (1776/1976). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Wealth of Nations. The GlasgowEdition,LibertyFund,Indiana.
Tjøtta,S.(2010).GrønntragedieiHardanger. Samfunnsøkonomen,6,20-23.
Tjøtta,S.(2020a).Neitilpolitiseringavnorskeuniversiteter. Samfunnsøkonomen,3, 6-12.
Tjøtta,S.(2020b).Akademiskvaskingavgrønnpolitikk. Samfunnsøkonomen,5,71-73.
Tjøtta,S.(2023).Klimapolitikkogdetnorskespråk.Samfunnsøkonomen,3,16-22.