Why is Bozeman a Special Place? Search Forbes Magazine for Bozeman, Montana and what pops up? Forbes and other national publications report our community is in the top five or ten of nearly every positive recreational and cultural opportunity in America. (*f.n.) Of course, perfection eludes: No place can have more than two of three […]
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Introduction to Prof. Jerry Johnson’s FREE Insight, John Baden “Yellowstone’s Predictable Political Problems: From Fires to Firings” Last week newspapers announced that Yellowstone Park Superintendent Dan Wenk was fired after 33 highly successful years with the Park Service. As MSU professor, Jerry Johnson explains in our next FREE Insights, political forces were the cause. […]
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The Gallatin Valley has become an attractive place to relocate, especially for people with substantial human capital. High human capital implies creative, entrepreneurial, and intellectual qualities directed with self-discipline. Success in building wholesome lives is a regular consequence. Why do they find our valley so attractive? Quality attracts quality–and on several dimensions. Of course Bozeman […]
Read MoreLast week’s FREE Insight focused on the primary reasons for the success of the National Rifle Association. First is its reputation for championing self-protection from both roaming and sedentary bandits. This requires protecting the Second Amendment guarantee of individuals rights to have arms. The second attraction is comradeship and fun times with families and […]
Read MoreThe annual three-day National Rifle Association (NRA) convention ended Sunday, May 6th in Dallas. President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke on Friday. Other speakers included Texas Governor Greg Abbott and U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. These speakers indicate the NRA’s resilient power and influence. Attendance in Dallas reported to be about […]
Read MoreHundreds of elk winter on our place and neighbors’ ranches. We admire and enjoy these beautiful animals. We love to watch them on our hills a mile back and when they parade single file on the south side of our portion of the privately built and managed Kleinschmidt Canal. These elk are just 300 […]
Read MoreHere is a true, empirical, universal generalization: Well off people enjoy seeing big numbers of large wild animals in natural settings. This applies to the Serengeti Plains, Yellowstone Park, farms, and ranches that attract these animals in large numbers. While topography and geology are big draws, especially in Yellowstone, animals are key attractors. […]
Read MoreEver since its creation in 1985 FREE has worked to advance responsible liberty, sustainable ecology, and modest prosperity. Achieving this trinity of values requires certain institutional arrangements. The primary ones are: the rule of law, secure property rights, and the allocation of resources through the market process. These must operate in a legal context of […]
Read MoreDiana, a Romania friend, recently queried me about guns. She asked, “We were discussing the idea of arming school teachers and were wondering what is your take on that issue?” Here is my answer to her. Neither she nor any of her friends or relatives own or have use of firearms. Guns in […]
Read MoreSeveral years ago Ramona and I had a remarkable dinner. We were guests of a university couple, both from California. They invited us to meet their friends visiting from the East Coast. The issue of guns came up: “Doesn’t it worry you that a lot of people in Montana have guns?” “Actually no,” I responded, […]
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