“Happy New Year” may seem an inappropriate cry as America balances on the edge of governments’ financial cliffs. We’ve been edging toward this danger for two generations. The reason is simple; politicians have strong incentives to provide current benefits and promise payments in some distant future. That future is ever closer. The politics of this […]
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Pete Geddes is the General Director of the American Prairie Reserve. This is an entrepreneurial foundation dedicated to restoring 3,000,000 acres of grassland and its wildlife and ranches. It’s their “American Serengeti”. Pete came to Bozeman from Missoula nearly 17 years ago after earning his graduate degree in forestry from the U of M. One […]
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John Goodman’s article for FREE this week underscores a crucial flaw in ObamaCare. Not a flaw of legislation, regulation or execution, but a very serious flaw in understanding how medicine works. The fundamental unit of health care is the physician and the patient, making and discussing the diagnosis together and jointly deciding the best diagnostic […]
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Beginning to Map the DNA of Policy Reform: Dr. Flaherty’s “Beyond DNA: Lessons from the Born” Dr. Bob Flaherty, MD, of Montana State University is the author of this week’s FREE Insights. Bob has lectured at several FREE seminars, and he and his wife Carol (retired from MSU) are long and deeply trusted friends. They […]
Read MoreBozeman, Montana was the birthplace of The New Resource Economics, aka “Free Market Environmentalism.” Having lived in its midst for decades, I recently began thinking of the historical context of this movement, and the causes of its unlikely success. The take-home message is clear; over the long run ideas have consequences. A victory implies contesting […]
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Bozeman should thank Rick Stroup, a longtime resident and retiring head of the Ag-Econ & Econ Department at MSU. Rick has contributed much to our community. With his forthcoming move to North Carolina State University, an era ends. In the 1970s a small group of scholars at MSU developed the principles and policies that became […]
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I’ve been with FREE for nearly five years, first as its research associate and lately as its publications and program coordinator. In the time I’ve been here, a lot of people have moved to Bozeman; unfortunately, it’s time for me to move on. I came here in February of 2002 from the other end of […]
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The educational programs of the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE) have received substantial national attention, including from the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and 20/20. The Judicial Conference of the United States carefully evaluated the contributions of our work, for it knows American justice and progress rely on […]
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Who but misanthropes and exploiters of cheap labor would oppose the goal of increasing Montana’s minimum wage by one dollar to $6.15 per hour? Only a committed ascetic who inherited a home can enjoy a wholesome, healthy, independent life here on $12,000 per year. Clearly, the proposed increase falls far below a “living wage.” Fifteen […]
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Each spring, the mainstream media — fueled by a single advocacy group — accuse FREE of promoting corporate interests, pursuing anti-environmental policies, and conducting boondoggle seminars for federal judges and law professors. Solid evidence refutes these claims. It would be less disturbing if these printed accounts appeared on opinion pages, but these biases underlie Associated […]
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