Getting Environmental Regulation Right

What we can all learn from the late Ronald Coase about protecting wetlands and wildlife. The recent death of Ronald Coase has given rise to an outpouring of praise about his contributions to the field of economics and his influence on the complex world of institutional politics. In my interactions with Coase, he was always cautious and diffident about […]

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 You Called, We Came: Fighting the Fires of 1988

You Called, We Came: Fighting the Fires of 1988

This is a story of thankfulness.  This is a story that makes me proud to be an American. The West Yellowstone Economic Development Council celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the 1988 Fires on September 2nd 2013, the day 25 years ago when farmers from southern Idaho trucked their irrigation pipes to “West” and helped set […]

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America’s Past and America’s Future

In their new book, America 3.0: Rebooting American Prosperity in the 21st Century—Why America’s Greatest Days Are Yet to Come,1 James C. Bennett and Michael J. Lotus predict America’s future by looking deep into the past. They argue that the unique nuclear-family orientation inherited from the Anglo-Saxon tradition creates a culture that ultimately will reject the model […]

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 Probing an Environmental Paradox

Probing an Environmental Paradox

  Summer in Montana is a time to celebrate–and to share with visitors.   We have many and nearly all are environmentally sensitive.  None visit us by accident or advertisement.  Most fish, hike, ride, or bike.  The vast majority of our guests recycle. So do we. But not everything. That distinction poses the paradox. Pacific Steel and Recycling […]

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