The Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Missouri is the world’s largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship. In late May, Kaufmann announced its annual Index of Entrepreneurial Activity for 2009. Montana and Oklahoma were the entrepreneurial leaders and I was surprised—why Oklahoma? I actually have a warm spot for that state, I’ve had only good experiences there—but […]

Ramona and I just returned from my successful reconstructive surgery in Baltimore. We came back through Minneapolis, me in a leg cast rolling through the airport in a wheelchair. I’ve known this procedure was coming for six years. With Obama’s election, I’ve anticipated increased difficulty in acquiring excellent medical care. Hence, I’ve been more sensitive […]

Governor Schweitzer is proposing Montanans be allowed to re-import U.S. prescription drugs from Canada. He believes this could save consumers up to 40 percent on their medical prescriptions, totaling some $280 million in annual savings. On average, prices for U.S. manufactured drugs are much lower abroad than for the same drugs sold at home. This […]

This is the fourth summer FREE has offered conferences on environmental stewardship for religious leaders. This year’s are in June and September. The June slots are filled and we have just announced the September 13-17 offering, “Our Environment: Economics, Ecology, and Ethics.” The religious leaders program is popular and the conference location wonderful, Elkhorn Ranch […]

The disaster earlier this month in a West Virginia coal mine killing at least 29 miners (and the wreck of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico) reminds us of the extreme hazards of that occupation; the human cost of supplying fifty percent of the nation’s electricity at an affordable price is […]

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Bad money drives good money out of circulation.” This is now called Gresham’s Law but it dates back to the ancient Greeks. What does this mean in practice and how might it be relevant to the internet and more generally to civility in our public discourse? First I’ll consider legal […]

Ramona and I delight in ranch life in the Gallatin Gateway community. There are immense social and environmental benefits to this rural setting, notably friends and excellent access to the urban qualities of Bozeman and surrounding outdoor treasures. We have many long-term neighbors we like, admire, and trust. Most are farmers and ranchers with whom […]

National Public Radio (NPR), a nonprofit 501 c-3 corporation, has 860 independent stations throughout America. I wouldn’t care to live in a place that didn’t have radio access. (Streaming it on the web is a poor substitute.) When traveling, I find the local station so not to miss “Morning Edition” and the evening program “All […]

If Congress passes climate change legislation, someone must manufacture and sell products and services to help companies meet lowered carbon emissions targets. With this in mind a friend asked if I saw profitable opportunities. Surely there is money to be made in alternative energy sources like biofuels, wind, and solar? Perhaps arbitraging the CO2 markets […]

This year is FREE’s 25th anniversary. The initial focus of our work was on the economics and policy analysis of contentious natural resource issues. Our goal was to show how to harmonize environmental quality with America’s founding ideals of liberty and responsible prosperity. Twenty-five years ago environmental problems were addressed almost exclusively through command and […]