Three decades ago I moved from teaching at Indiana University for a position at Montana State. At MSU, I helped create a small institute. While that program was a causality of university politics, its participants prospered. More importantly, its ideas triumphed. Our goal was to fundamentally change the way opinion leaders thought about protecting and […]

I wish President Bush well, but environmentally, his administration remains astonishingly shortsighted. They inexplicably ignore an increasingly important political fact: as individuals’ wealth and education increase, so does their sensitivity to environmental quality. Economist Don Coursey of the University of Chicago recently demonstrated that the demand for environmental quality resembles that for BMWs and foreign […]

After a series on monumental errors, our legislators are debating Montana’s energy future. They want to avoid a crisis of California proportions. They’re wrestling with forces and prices distorted by decades of regulation and flawed deregulation. California adopted policies that worsened problems. Basic economics can help us avoid mistakes by predicting likely consequences of alternative […]

One of life’s greatest challenges is educating our children for an unknown future. Historically, people expected the future to be much like the past. This predictability is long past. How can we cope and responsibly prepare our youth for the unknown? It’s helpful to understand economic forces and anticipate opportunities. We can learn from Montana’s […]

Here’s a key to understanding national politics. Politicians are rewarded when they advance policies with immediate benefits and distant costs. Under current arrangements, oil exploration and development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) fails this test. Yet, last week a page one feature in the Wall Street Journal, “Influence Market”, lead with the statement […]

Ecology is the study of the relationship between an organism and its environment, for example beaver in aspen meadows. One underlying question is “how does it earn its living”. There is also an ecology of organizations and the question is the same: How does an organization relate to and gain sustenance from its environment? Let’s […]

Several of the Rocky Mountain states have a serious problem finding enough good K through 12 teachers. Many of those graduating from our colleges and universities leave the region. The most promising and highly qualified seem most likely to exit. This sorry dispersion has huge, long term, and adverse consequences for our kids and our […]

Finally, after decades of waving good-bye to children leaving for jobs in other states, we can replace sorry stories with happier endings. Since WWII, Montana’s most valuable export has been its educated children. Many, perhaps most, left reluctantly. Why, then, did they leave? Usually because the opportunities gained were too valuable to resist. The better […]

Environmental think tanks exist to foster constructive reforms. That’s why FREE and Gallatin Writers launched a $35,000 contest. The goal is to generate innovative ways to help preserve the Upper Missouri River, its culture, and its economy. The bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (2003-2005) will focus world attention upon the Upper Missouri, […]

“How were your holidays?” Just wonderful, I reply. I learned a lot about our community and I’d like to share because stories influence behavior. Just before Christmas, Ramona and I returned from a 10-day business trip to New York City. When we got home it was minus 13 degrees and huge drifts blocked our lower […]