New York Times
October 8, 2008
Earlier this fall, Bobby McCormick, PERC senior fellow, spoke at the annual meeting of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Madrid.
His comments were part of a recurring theme at the conference, calling for more hard-headed business aprroaches to conservation in order to make real and measurable progress. A New York Times reporter found this change in focus sufficiently compelling to write the following story "The Failing Business of Conservation."
Folowing are the sections related to McCormick:
"Robert McCormick, a professor emeritus of economics at Clemson University, put it bluntly when he said that the movement needs to recognize the cost-benefit calculus that motivates individuals to act."
"Rather than looking at the current implosion of banks and financial institutions as a signal to abandon market-models, he suggested, conservationists instead should bear in mind that the best way of preventing a “tragedy of the commons” — in which everyone competes ruthlessly for increasingly scarce resources like water — might well be to put a price on them."
Founded 30 years ago in Bozeman, Montana, PERC—the Property and Environment Research Center—is the nation’s oldest and largest institute dedicated to improving environmental quality through property rights and markets.
PERC’s publications, each designed to resonate with specific groups, move ideas generated at PERC to broader audiences.
Research is at the heart of PERC's work, with a focus on the question: What is the link between economic growth and environmental quality?
The goal of PERC’s programs is to fully realize the vision of establishing “PERC University,” where scholars, students, policy makers, and others convene to expand the applications of free market environmentalism.
PERC's fellowships share a common goal of exposing new scholars, students, journalists, and policy makers to free market environmentalism, as well as enable scholars already familiar with FME to explore new applications.
PERC continues to publish and present a broad range of research and discussion through podcasts, videos, and other multimedia channels.