A 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 MoreFREE began 2017 with a ten-day visit by Romanian economist Prof. Christian Nasulea and Ph. D. student Diana Spinu. They are classical liberals who work on environmental and information technology topics. They share our interest in explaining why “romance lands” attract creative, active individuals with high human capital. This migration of talented, successful individuals is […]
Read MoreIntroduced here by Dr. John Baden A Tale of Two Cities, Boulder and Bozeman First, an admission: I like Boulder, Colorado–as a place to visit and from which to learn. I’ve been there several times and always enjoyed my visits. Many say Bozeman is like Boulder was 30 plus years ago. They mean that as […]
Read MoreIntroduction by Dr. John Baden “Trading Food for Fuel, Blood for Oil” Here is my nomination for book of the year, Thinner This Year. The authors are Chris Crowley and Jen Sacheck, Ph. D. The former is a retired attorney and 78-year-old fitness cheerleader, the later a nutritionist at Tufts University’s famous health science center, […]
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I’ve had the great good fortune to meet and work with some of America’s nicest and most highly respected public intellectuals. These people have a mission, to advance human freedom and well-being. They do so through their knowledge of human propensities and ambitions. They work to understand society’s organization and coordination and then explain it […]
Read MoreAs we approach the 42nd Earth Day, environmental data accumulates and wisdom grows, however unevenly. Most measures of America’s environmental quality show major improvement, notably air and water pollution. The increasing plenty of natural resources is also something to celebrate. Environmentalism has become many people’s preferred religion. It’s unseemly to criticize people’s faith but this […]
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FREE just completed a conference for religious leaders, “The Environmental Economics of Creation Stewardship.” Participants came from a dozen states and even more denominations. All agreed we are indeed blessed to live here. Hiking, riding, and rafting near Gallatin Gateway testify to an environment worth conserving. And this is a great place to learn how […]
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From the Financial Times Published: May 10 2011 The accident at Fukushima was a test for the global environmental movement. Concern about global warming over the past decade led many greens to reconsider their long-standing opposition to nuclear power. But old habits die hard. Caught between their anti-nuclear sentiments and their increasingly apocalyptic fears of […]
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This April is Earth Day’s 41st anniversary. In 1970, Yale law professor Charles Reich, published a remarkably popular, fundamentally naive book, The Greening of America. He argued that a new, non-materialistic, environmentally sensitive culture was emerging in a “Consciousness III.” Reich discounted the value of conventional religion. Instead, Greening celebrated the counterculture and fostered an […]
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There is a true, empirical, universal, statistical generalization that the Republican Party should understand if it expects to attract the American middle class. This generalization is especially applicable to college educated, well-off voters, the opinion leaders in most communities. Here it is: Accomplished, successful individuals normally become Green. In economic terms the demand for environmental […]
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