Our nation continues to pile precautionary energy policies onto a struggling economy, but we’re bumping into an inconvenient truth.
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Ronald Coase showed how free markets help the environment
The death this week of Ronald Coase, one of the world’s most-cited economists, comes at a time when there is lively debate about the very issue he raised: why neither markets nor government are panaceas.
Coase on Externalities
The existence of “externalities” — effects (costs or benefits) of market transactions that are not experienced by those involved in the transaction, but are instead experienced by others, those “external” to the transaction — is routinely proffered as a justification for governmental regulation of private economic activity. Ronald Coase had a different view, however. InContinue reading “Coase on Externalities”
Ronald Coase R.I.P.
I am stunned and saddened to learn that Nobel Laureate economist Ronald Coase has died. As the author of such seminal works as “The Lighthouse in Economics,” “The Nature of the Firm, ” and “The Problem of Social Cost,” Coase was one of the most influential thinkers of his generation. (See also Brian Leiter’s comment here.) AlthoughContinue reading “Ronald Coase R.I.P.”
Thank you, Ronald Coase
Nobel laureate Ronald Coase has passed away at the age of 102. Coase’s work provided the intellectual foundation on which free market environmentalism is built.
Charging User Fees To Save Coral Reefs
Despite their ecological and economic importance, Florida’s coral reefs are teetering on the verge of collapse. Writing in Sea Technology, Reed Watson explores a market-based restoration plan to save the reefs.
A Stimulating Deliberation
I just returned to Virginia, from Montana, where I had the privilege to serve as one of PERC’s Lone Mountain Fellows and participate in a colloquium co-sponsored by PERC and the Liberty Fund, Inc. entitled Reconciling Ecology and Economics: Processes and Property Rights (August 13-16). Reflecting on the experience, I find my conscious (and probablyContinue reading “A Stimulating Deliberation”
Q&A with Carissa Wonkka on Managing Rangeland with Fire
Fires have been a hot topic this summer, especially in the West. PERC graduate fellow Carissa Wonkka’s current work focuses on the potential benefits of using controlled burns on private rangelands to prevent the encroachment of woody brush that threaten native grasslands. Before pursuing a Ph.D. from Texas A&M, Carissa worked on a fire crew,Continue reading “Q&A with Carissa Wonkka on Managing Rangeland with Fire”
Fracking: Should You Fret or Fête?
Should you fret or fete about fracking? Terry Anderson says that the United States has vast amounts of natural gas resources, which would mean falling world oil prices as people switch from oil to natural gas.
Learning How to Fish
Fisheries around the world are poorly managed. As Jonathan Adler explains in the UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, property-based management can conserve fisheries and maintain their value for human consumption.