In the latest PERC Reports, James Workman lays out a provocative plan for wolf management in the West: As a hunter, lifelong environmentalist, and wolf advocate at the U.S. Department of the Interior during the 1990s, I have a modest proposal: de-politicize the warmblooded wolf by trusting its fate to cold market forces; let MontanaContinue reading “The Call (or Cull?) of the Wild”
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PERC on the Radio: Back to the Basics and Celebrating the Bees
by Annie Ireland PERC’s Laura Huggins goes back to the basics of free market environmentalism in this interview on Greensense, a radio show hosted by Robert Colangelo that provides an inside look at green initiatives. Huggins discusses the success of Namibia’s communal wildlife conservancies in turning wildlife from a liability into an asset. She explains whyContinue reading “PERC on the Radio: Back to the Basics and Celebrating the Bees”
The Rules of the Game
When children play games they often make up the rules as they go. This can work with patient participants but often leads to an argument that overtakes the game. A parent or teacher may need to come in and act as referee to calm the situation. As kids get older they begin to play gamesContinue reading “The Rules of the Game”
2,000 Years of History in One Chart
This chart from The Economist is worth staring at for a while: The vertical axis is the percentage of total economic output or person-years lived over the past two millennia. According to the chart makers: By this reckoning, over 28% of all the history made since the birth of Christ was made in the 20thContinue reading “2,000 Years of History in One Chart”
40 Years on the Regulatory Commons
Don’t miss PERC senior fellow Bruce Yandle’s article in the latest issue of Regulation magazine. With 40 years of accumulated executive order wisdom to draw on and knowledge tapped from turning out some 2.5 million pages of Federal Register rules since 1970, President Obama looked the Leviathan in the eye and called for a reviewContinue reading “40 Years on the Regulatory Commons”
The Truth About Fracking?
Reason.tv has this excellent video overview of the debate over hydraulic fracturing from Ronald Bailey, a 2010 Julian Simon Fellow at PERC. Here’s some background from Reason: Fracking has been around for more than 60 years and over 100,000 gas wells are dug per year, most of them in sparsely populated areas in the western U.S. With the discoveryContinue reading “The Truth About Fracking?”
PERC Reports is hot off the press
The foundation of PERC has always been high-quality academic research rooted in the principles of property rights and markets. It was this focus on research that led to Terry Anderson and Donald Leal’s influential 1990 book Free Market Environmentalism—the first comprehensive argument for “rethinking the way we think” about the environment. With the third editionContinue reading “PERC Reports is hot off the press”
Don’t mess with Texas fish, either
Despite oil spills, hurricanes and a long history of misguided federal rules, Texas’ commercial fishermen are doing better than ever thanks to new management based on free-market principles and local control.
Where are all the missing bees?
We are right in the middle of National Pollinator Week, and if you haven’t yet paid homage to the honeybees that pollinate your fruits and vegetables, now is your chance. PERC fellows Walter Thurman and Randal Rucker have an op-ed, “Blessed Are the Beekeepers,” in today’s Wall Street Journal claiming that despite the hype about colonyContinue reading “Where are all the missing bees?”
Free Market Environmentalism: It’s No Oxymoron
The PERC/Liberty Fund undergraduate student colloquium, “Free Market Environmentalism and the Institutions of Liberty,” was held last week. A couple of faculty members, 23 students, and I were immersed in a week-long discussion about markets, the environment, and liberty. The group of students was diverse — from across the country and globe. They prepared by readingContinue reading “Free Market Environmentalism: It’s No Oxymoron”