For the better part of two decades, a small group of policy scholars and climate policy advocates have argued that the United Nations’ climate treaty efforts were doomed. Caps on emissions, and other efforts that make fossil fuels more expensive, would fail in world where competitive alternative fuels don’t exist, and where billions of people […]

The upside of economic inequality is that it makes life better for everyone, especially the poor. Right now, our economic prospects look grim. To classical liberals like myself, future growth is unsustainable in an age dominated by progressive politics. There are two reasons for this: an extensive system of regulation of all key sectors of economy—including labor, […]

I highly recommend The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy to those interested in the mix of culture, economics, and education (www.popecenter.org/). This site offers serious commentary, reviews, and analysis of opportunities and pathologies in higher education.  The Pope Center also offers recognition and rewards for educational innovators.  The director, Jane Shaw, formerly from Bozeman, […]

This is the first of two essays on the contributions of property rights to peace and prosperity. It’s hard to imagine a sane person who doesn’t value peace and prosperity.    Yet, these are illusive, oft fleeting qualities; few people understand how well defined and defended property rights contribute to both peace and prosperity.  When property […]

From the fiscal to the familial, conservatives have the right answers. Several years ago, a business meeting took me to the home of an honest-to-God Wall Street billionaire, the first such member of that exotic caste I had ever personally encountered. The home was comfortable and well-appointed, but it was in most ways a domicile […]

Greens often condemn Americans for their allegedly prodigal treatment of natural resources and the environment. This is a common theme in the environmental literature. Ed Abbey, author of The Monkey Wrench Gang, was one of the inspirations of Earth First!  His statement, “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell”, suggests the […]