RESEARCH

As wildfire becomes increasingly frequent and intense due to multiple factors such as a changing climate and the accumulation of dry vegetation, understanding their economic effects on critical commodities is essential to evaluate their economic consequences beyond immediate property damage. This study assesses the short-term impact of the 2024 Park Fire on local retail gasoline prices in Northern California, using high-frequency station-level data. A generalized difference-in-differences approach and event study reveal that stations within 20 miles of the wildfire experienced a roughly 9-cent-per-gallon price drop compared to more distant controls—an outcome contrasting with the price spikes typically observed after hurricanes and floods. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how natural disasters, particularly wildfires, can influence fuel markets in unexpected ways, highlighting the importance of monitoring post-disaster price changes.

The study explores how hydrological drought reshapes electricity generation in Latin America. Using a harmonized plant-level panel for Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador from 2000 to 2024, I link monthly power output to HydroBASINS watershed data and high-resolution runoff anomalies. Droughts are defined as basin-level 12-month cumulative runoff falling one standard deviation below the historical mean. Two-way fixed-effects regressions indicate that hydropower generation declines by 20–25 percent during drought months in Chile and Brazil, while effects in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador are smaller and statistically insignificant. These findings provide cross-country evidence on drought sensitivity and highlight implications for energy security, substitution patterns, and decarbonization strategies in hydro-dependent systems.

This paper analyzes determinants of inflation perceptions among 1,000 Michigan residents surveyed in 2024, in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election. Ordered logistic regressions show that political leaning is the strongest predictor: Republicans and Independents perceive significantly higher inflation than Democrats, and Trump supporters and Biden administration disapprovers report sharply higher inflation than Harris supporters or those with positive approval. Gender differences are also robust, with women more likely than men to report higher inflation across all domains. By contrast, age, income, education, and rural–urban location have weaker or inconsistent effects, while home ownership consistently dampens perceptions of inflation, particularly in housing and gasoline. These findings highlight that perceptions of inflation are politicized and gendered, reflecting partisan and leadership evaluations more than local economic fundamentals.