Introduction By John A. Baden, PhD Jane Shaw Stroup was a writer and editor at Business Week Magazine when we met. The occasion was a seminar series on environmental quality and natural resources produced by my MSU institute in the Economics Department, the Center for Political Economy and Natural Resources. The M. J. Murdock […]
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The World is Getting Better We are blessed to begin the new year with excellent news: “In material ways the world is rapidly getting better.” The late Swedish physician, Dr. Hans Rosling thoroughly documented this progress in his 2018 book, Factfulness: …Why Things Are Better than You think. Greg Ip updated this theme in […]
Read MoreA FREE Policy Salon* FREE supports three values: sustainable ecology, responsible liberty, and modest prosperity. Policy salons are one tool we use to explore and promote these values. The salons involve readings, brief presentations by knowledgeable individuals, and occasional recordings. The key element is discussion before, during and after a lengthy meal. Our most […]
Read MoreComments by John Baden Bob Higgs (http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=489)is one of America’s most respected and productive economic historians. Decades ago I brought Bob to MSU to give a talk on the economics of sustainable salmon fishing and the causes of overfishing. And no, the cause is not greed but rather poorly designed institutions and political influence. Greed is […]
Read More“Improving Federal Land Management: Ecology, Equity, and Economics” I recently learned that no Green/leftist/progressive leaders have confidence in large governmental organizations. Who is the source of this knowledge? It’s Gus diZerega, a political scientist/theorist with a PhD from UC Berkeley. He recently visited from California while traveling through Yellowstone. We enjoyed several dinner conversations, mainly about progressive Green […]
Read MoreFREE fosters liberty, prosperity, and ecology by advocating reforms that recognize the importance of each. Our focus is the “romance” ring of the environmental arena; parks, wildlife, water, and wildlands. The focus holds in our academic and agricultural lives. Four decades ago we chose to live on a ranch near Gallatin Gateway. It is the […]
Read MoreThe oft-heard claim that charters perform no better than conventional schools is out of date and inaccurate. Many have been puzzled by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s skepticism toward charter schools, his calls for ending space-sharing and charging them rent, and his $210 million cut of a construction fund important to the schools. Education reformers […]
Read MoreThe young woman looked frightened. All I did was ask some pointed questions. “Why do you have 35 kinds of energy bars, but only one brand of straight pins? And why are those made in China? Why aren’t your pins made in America?” This Kerr drug store was the final stop of my ten “observations,” so I had […]
Read MoreI highly recommend The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy to those interested in the mix of culture, economics, and education (www.popecenter.org/). This site offers serious commentary, reviews, and analysis of opportunities and pathologies in higher education. The Pope Center also offers recognition and rewards for educational innovators. The director, Jane Shaw, formerly from Bozeman, […]
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This is the second of two essays on the contributions of property rights to peace and prosperity. The first examined the horrific problems of the Jews. Most were caused, permitted, or exacerbated by failures to recognize their property rights. This week I consider the current grazing conflict in Nevada. I am joined by FREE research […]
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