“Happy New Year” may seem an inappropriate cry as America balances on the edge of governments’ financial cliffs. We’ve been edging toward this danger for two generations. The reason is simple; politicians have strong incentives to provide current benefits and promise payments in some distant future. That future is ever closer. The politics of this […]
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Pete Geddes is the General Director of the American Prairie Reserve. This is an entrepreneurial foundation dedicated to restoring 3,000,000 acres of grassland and its wildlife and ranches. It’s their “American Serengeti”. Pete came to Bozeman from Missoula nearly 17 years ago after earning his graduate degree in forestry from the U of M. One […]
Read MoreI’m writing this column on the night before the presidential election of 2012. Surely the attention of readers will be on the election tomorrow—and probably for some time thereafter. I’m praying for an early and decisive ending of this grotesque demonstration of avarice, deception, and manipulation of fears. In the weeks prior to the election, […]
Read MoreBozeman, Montana was the birthplace of The New Resource Economics, aka “Free Market Environmentalism.” Having lived in its midst for decades, I recently began thinking of the historical context of this movement, and the causes of its unlikely success. The take-home message is clear; over the long run ideas have consequences. A victory implies contesting […]
Read MoreAllen Johnson is founder and leader of Christians for the Mountains. This group is devoted to fighting mountain top removal mining in West Virginia and adjacent areas. Christians for the Mountains helps the people and environment that suffer from this destructive but politically powerful abuse. I’ve known and worked with Allen for several years and […]
Read MoreElinor (Lin) Ostrom of Indiana University was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in economics. Lin died June 12th after diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in late 2011. Following her diagnosis she traveled to India and Mexico, and taught a graduate seminar. Having known her for 45 plus years, I was not surprised by […]
Read MoreHere’s a true, empirical, universal generalization; issues involving environmental policy are both scientifically complex and highly emotional. These are ingredients for error and acrimony. The reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park offers a dramatic illustration of my point. It is the most contentious environmental subject I have observed in 50-plus years of involvement. This […]
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I’ve had the great good fortune to meet and work with some of America’s nicest and most highly respected public intellectuals. These people have a mission, to advance human freedom and well-being. They do so through their knowledge of human propensities and ambitions. They work to understand society’s organization and coordination and then explain it […]
Read MoreAs we approach the 42nd Earth Day, environmental data accumulates and wisdom grows, however unevenly. Most measures of America’s environmental quality show major improvement, notably air and water pollution. The increasing plenty of natural resources is also something to celebrate. Environmentalism has become many people’s preferred religion. It’s unseemly to criticize people’s faith but this […]
Read MoreCharles Murray’s latest book, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010, is an extraordinarily important study of the process implied by his title. Charles has a penchant for writing books that challenge, and sometimes change, America’s policy environment. Murray’s Losing Ground was published in 1984 and fundamentally transformed America’s thinking on the causes of […]
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