Recently, several scientists proposed a market based solution to ensure the future of whales in nature. Tradable whale quotas, these scientists suggest, could reduce existing conflict and enhance cooperation. Quota shares would be provided to member nations of the International Whaling Commission. Share holders could decide to maintain, use, trade, sell, or permanently retire their allocation.Continue reading “A Market to Conserve”
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Valentin Abe is spawning fish farmers in Haiti, lack of formal property rights be damned
“Everything here in Haiti,” says Dr. Valentin Abe, “takes time.” Which is a comment as insightful as it is tautological. Abe (pronounced AH-bay), originally from Côte d’Ivoire, first came to Haiti in 1997 on a six month contract to assess potential aquaculture sites. He’d recently earned a PhD in aquaculture from Auburn University, and beforeContinue reading “Valentin Abe is spawning fish farmers in Haiti, lack of formal property rights be damned”
Just Say No to Embalming
In this two minute video the Institute for Justice points out the injustice of the Government making entrepreneurs “do useless things for no reason?” Verlin Stoll has built a successful business because he offers low-cost funerals while providing high-quality service. His business is one of the few funeral homes that benefits low-income families who cannot affordContinue reading “Just Say No to Embalming”
Rebuilding the Ark: New Perspectives on Endangered Species Act Reform
In Rebuilding the Ark: New Perspectives on Endangered Species Act Reform, Jonathan H. Adler leads a group of environmental law experts in evaluating the ESA’s successes and failures and exploring multiple avenues for reform.
What Ever Happened With Colony Collapse Disorder?
There has been plenty of bad news about bees lately. In 2006, beekeepers reported the mysterious disappearance of abnormal numbers of honeybees from their hives over the winter. The affliction, now known as Colony Collapse Disorder, has gripped the attention of the media—and perhaps for good reason. Honeybees are responsible not only for the honeyContinue reading “What Ever Happened With Colony Collapse Disorder?”
Between a rock and a hard place: The Mining Law of 1872
by Brennan Jorgensen In the New York Times, Robert M. Hughes and Carol Ann Woody call for the end of the Mining Law of 1872 as a means to protect fragile ecosystems from invasive mining practices. They cite the Environmental Protection Agency’s estimates that headwater streams in 40 percent of Western watersheds are polluted by mining.Continue reading “Between a rock and a hard place: The Mining Law of 1872”
The Ecological and Civil Mainsprings of Property: An Experimental Economic History of Whalers’ Rules of Capture
Abstract This article uses a laboratory experiment to probe the proposition that property emerges anarchically out of social custom. We test the hypothesis that whalers in the 18th and 19th centuries developed rules of conduct that minimized the sum of the transaction and production costs of capturing their prey, the primary implication being that differentContinue reading “The Ecological and Civil Mainsprings of Property: An Experimental Economic History of Whalers’ Rules of Capture”
Colony Collapse Disorder: The Market Response to Bee Disease
This policy series on Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious phenomenon affecting honey bees, shows how real people resolve environmental problems.
Abundance in 2012
In 1980, Paul Ehrlich, a world famous biologist and author, accepted a bet proposed by Julian Simon, an economist. The bet was to resolve an ongoing debate about resource scarcity. Ehrlich chose five metals (copper, chromium, nickel, tin, and tungsten) and hypothetically bought $200 worth of each. If the real price of the metals increased overContinue reading “Abundance in 2012”
The President’s Agency Consolidation Proposal
This morning I received a CNN “Breaking News” alert that “President Obama said today he is elevating the Small Business Administration to a Cabinet-level agency.” My first reaction was utter disbelief. The question is whether the SBA should exist, not whether it should be a cabinet-level agency. Fortunately, the CNN report was in error. WhatContinue reading “The President’s Agency Consolidation Proposal”