Last month the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment conducted a program for seminary professors and religious leaders on “Our Environment: Economics, Ecology, and Ethics.” The conference was designed to further FREE’s mission, which is to “assist judges, religious leaders and other community leaders and scholars by conducting seminars that provide tools and […]

Every loan bears some risk that it will not be repaid. In making a loan, a prudent lender will accurately price the risk of the loan. Regulations that interfere with the ability to price risk accurately leads lenders to reduce their risk exposure by curtailing lending. Since President Obama’s comprehensive financial overhaul bill would fundamentally […]

America’s experiences with Indian tribes should alert us to consequences of changes in rights, especially when imposed from higher authority. When rights to land or valuable resources that flow from it are unclear and changing, conflict naturally follows. A sense of ownership can come from traditional uses that engender psychological entitlement. Leigh Anderson and Dick […]

Working with undergraduate honor students is a great pleasure. FREE’s summer interns are from this set. They are normally headed on to graduate or professional school and not yet distracted by looming job prospects. Hence, they focus on ideas and ideals. I delight in sharing a few “life lessons” with them. Last year’s interns, Steph […]

Working with undergraduate honor students is a great pleasure. FREE’s summer interns are from this set. They are normally headed on to graduate or professional school and not yet distracted by looming job prospects. Hence, they focus on ideas and ideals. I delight in sharing a few “life lessons” with them. These students are self-selected, […]

Organizations are created to achieve some purpose. The motivation may be a good cause, for example a conservation or health improvement goal. Many others are in the commercial marketplace. However, few new organizations, whether created for cause or for cash, are successful in their mission and remain viable over the long run. Those that sell […]

FREE recently hosted a conference, “Personal Health Care Choices and Public Policy,” for Federal Judges, State Supreme Court Justices, and Law Professors. This is an area fraught with supply and access problems, competing values, and political opportunism. Economics offers some important insights when considering them. John Goodman, Ph.D., is one of FREE’s senior fellows. John […]

FREE recently hosted a conference, “Personal Health Care Choices and Public Policy,” for Federal Judges, State Supreme Court Justices, and Law Professors. This is an area fraught with supply and access problems, competing values, and political opportunism. Economics offers some important insights when considering them. What aspects of health care resemble a classic economic good? […]

Bozeman is clearly the epicenter of the people who have long studied how institutional arrangements affect the quality of natural resource and environmental management. In these arenas, as in all others where chance does not determine the outcome, decisions depend on two things, information and incentives. There are many types of incentives including cultural, financial, […]

I think it likely that the next wave of environmentalism will focus on entrepreneurs. Certainly this approach is central to any substantial success. Disenchantment with government is growing ever stronger, thus, new perspectives and practices are required for progress. I have been asked to write the introduction to a book advancing the theme of entrepreneurial […]