In 1968 I had the immense good fortune to work with Garrett Hardin, a distinguished ecologist. His Science article, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” is the most reprinted article in the magazine’s history. Together, Garrett and I produced a book in print for nearly 20 years, Managing the Commons. (A second edition is published by […]

Think tanks challenge conventional wisdom and generate alternatives. Gallatin Writers and FREE seek innovative solutions to difficult environmental and economic problems. In this spirit we sponsor the Wallace Stegner Essay Contest. Here are the results for 2004. Wallace Stegner claimed that he was born to write one story — the story of the “boomer” and […]

Two years ago my cousin Antonio Glassberg lost a battle to cancer. He was 21. Although my uncle lost his only child at an unbearably young age, the most horrific part of his passing was not his youth, but the circumstances surrounding his death. Antonio’s intensive chemotherapy treatment caused endless pain. He often couldn’t sleep […]

We’re in the midst of a landscaping project. It includes truckloads of a substance called “Beauty Bark.” Paying for this material reminded me of the difference between economic growth and economic progress. This is a happy story — and not only because of our more attractive yard. It demonstrates how ecological improvements flow from better […]

We recently returned from the 2004 general meeting of the Mont Pèlerin Society (MPS). This organization was founded in 1947 by intellectuals committed to resisting tyranny of the left and the right. They built the intellectual analogues to bullets and bombs. Their vision was realized on November 10, 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell. Three […]