I have friends involved in construction, finance, and real estate. None of them, not even those in Bozeman, are prospering as they were two years ago. Several have asked me to speculate on the future. I’ll focus on Bozeman, but will first outline the national context. Initially note that we are among the many victims […]
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Dear Readers: This edition of FREE Insights gives a preview of the conference topics we have selected for 2010. We are now designing these programs, and we welcome your suggestions for speakers and funders. Best, John & Pete FREE’s programs target (and hit) important decision makers and opinion leaders. We attract some of America’s most […]
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Several Bozeman friends have traveled to Washington DC to support legislation ostensibly designed to reduce carbon emissions and speed our transition to a green energy future. They are convinced that this can only happen through government intervention. Perhaps. But I’m skeptical. Here’s why. Europe as a model for U.S. energy policy? Europe’s promotion of green […]
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In 1965, the American economist Kenneth Boulding popularized the phase “Spaceship Earth” expressing his concern about the fragility of our planet. His logic went something like this: since the Earth’s resources are finite, just as bacteria growing in a petri dish will eventually exhaust their resources, we too must sooner or later run up against […]
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I find this Christmas season an especially wonderful time to be in Montana. There is much to celebrate. Even our record snowfall and unusual cold bring blessings. Snow is our summer water for fish and irrigation; cold kills bugs and discourages others. And we have early skiing. Technology reduces cold’s discomforts and dangers; consider today’s […]
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This week’s FREE Insights is by Harry Teasley of Tampa, Florida. Harry is a Georgia Tech graduate and former president of Coca Cola Foods, among other top positions at the Coca Cola Company. More importantly here, Harry is a businessman with an excellent understanding of political economy, especially public choice economics. Teasley’s “Thinking About Public […]
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Please click here for Green Jobs: Hope or Hype? by Pete Geddes.
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Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving celebrations will reflect a poignant quality, a loss of optimism. Many people are more apprehensive than hopeful. We have ridden waves of prosperity whose continuation seems uncertain. Yet, we have much to celebrate. Let’s do so thoughtfully. Several nations celebrate Thanksgiving, but we have a special appreciation given by our history. Every school […]
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Climate & Society Last week, returning from a visit with foundation officers and state-supreme court justices in Washington, John, Ramona, and I made it home just as Bozeman was being thumped with two feet of snow and much below normal temperatures. (We did not consider the prospect of an extra night in Great Falls pleasant.) […]
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(1) “Give me half a tanker of iron, and I’ll give you an ice age.” “Most people are aware that CO2 and temperature are positively correlated in the long historical record but fewer people know that iron dust correlates negatively on the same scale — that is, temperature and CO2 levels are low when iron-dust […]
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