All modern societies are critically dependant upon bureaucracies. These organizations, be they for-profit, nonprofit, or governmental, are central to our well-being. Hospitals, schools, courts, and supermarket chains are all bureaucracies. They constitute our institutional environment. The natural tendency of a bureaucracy is to defend and perpetuate itself and to resist change. Private bureaucracies, however, differ […]
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Last Fourth of July weekend I hiked up Mt. Baldy, a low summit in the small yet lovely Bridger Mountain Range just north of Bozeman, Montana. I started the hike from the “M” trailhead, surely the most traveled trail in Gallatin County. Mt. Baldy too is a popular local destination. One expects company out on […]
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Some of the best observers of America were not born here. Alexis de Tocqueville is the classic example. His 1832 book, Democracy in America, is considered one of the most insightful accounts ever written about American society and our political institutions. Fareed Zakaria, born in India with degrees from Yale and Harvard, is in this […]
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I serve on the board of trustees for a local fire department whose members volunteer to serve our community. We’re working hard to recruit and retain people with high human capital. So is every employer in Gallatin County. A generation ago our fire district was a tight community of farmers and ranchers who prized self-sufficiency. […]
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Some of my best memories come from summer road trips with my wife, Ramona. I naturally focus on economic anthropology, i.e., how folks organize, coordinate, and exchange. Differences are huge. They testify to the vitality, viability, and variety we’ve come to expect from an open society. Here are a few examples. We twice visited the […]
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I recently spoke on the scientific and ecological issues of genetically modified foods. But many in the audience, as well as friends I meet at our co-op, were actually concerned about “globalization.” Some want to arrest the spread of the market economy and modern technology. They believe these are the root causes of environmental degradation […]
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I like to help reduce communication barriers that isolate and alienate people. This task is especially compelling when individuals share core values. However, the exchange of ideas across ideological camps is difficult and rare. The debate over benefits and costs of modernization and markets exemplifies this problem Why don’t all nations adopt institutions of the […]
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Bozeman’s farmers’ market is a charming way to purchase locally grown produce and handicrafts. The ideal of self-sufficiency such markets imply is often advocated by environmentalists and community food co-ops, e.g., “Be a yokel, buy local.” But while it may appeal to the well-off and socially conscious, if taken to its logical conclusion it has […]
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Snow is still deep on the Spanish Peaks just south of town, but summer is coming to the Gallatin Valley. The emergence of kayaks and mountain bikes on roof-top car racks signals Bozemanites are shifting gears after a long ski season. As summer arrives, our community has much to celebrate. One is the creative ways […]
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Last October the “No More Enrons” coalition issued a report claiming that corporate scandals have cost Americans over $200 billion in lost investment savings, jobs, pensions, and tax revenue. The authors estimated that over a million workers lost jobs at affected companies, while executives cashed out billions in stocks. Intelligent folks of good character don’t […]
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