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Water Courts: The Way Forward?

Abstract Definition of property rights is not useful unless there is an enforcement system, either public or private, that backs it up. While the definition of property rights as a solution to the tragedy of the commons has been carefully analyzed in the literature, the enforcement piece has been somewhat overlooked. Enforcement has been conceivedContinue reading “Water Courts: The Way Forward?”

Innovation, Interconnection, and Institutions: Evolving Electric Power Systems in the Early 20th Century

Abstract This paper examines the evolution of electric power systems from their earliest days in the 1880s through World War I and the barriers to achieving interconnected distribution systems. In the very earliest days of electricity, there were no gains to interconnection. Beginning in the 1910s, interconnection of independent distribution systems would have offered lowerContinue reading “Innovation, Interconnection, and Institutions: Evolving Electric Power Systems in the Early 20th Century”

Private Conservation Might Be the Future Hero for Endangered Species

Instead of punishing private landowners, we should do more to incentivize voluntary conservation of endangered species and their habitats.

Endangered Species Depend on Private Land, So Why Treat Landowners as the Enemy?

Instead of counterproductive regulations, we need more creativity, partnerships, and positive incentives to preserve and restore habitat.

Will Capitalism Save the Rhino?

If preserving the species is the goal, free markets and property rights can succeed where regulation and wishful thinking have failed.

A Moral Case for Markets

Why we should harness markets to manage public lands.

A Cold Day in July

New research on the life-saving power of air conditioning.

When Industries Love Regulation

By walking away from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, President Donald Trump ended the United States’ commitment to reduce carbon emissions and made good on a key campaign promise. But amidst the fallout from the move, Mr. Trump’s exit from the Paris accord had some unlikely opponents—namely, large industrial giants who, at first glance, wouldContinue reading “When Industries Love Regulation”