Milton the rancher lives downriver from a large chemical factory. In the past month, the chemical factory has been disposing of chemical waste in the river, which has flowed downstream and poisoned Milton’s cattle. Milton is also a libertarian-minded person and prefers to keep government out of his life and out of the lives of […]
One of the most valuable economic insights is that human creativity is The Ultimate Resource. (The great economist Julian Simon wrote a book by that name.) It follows that as long as we are free to use our creativity, we don’t have to worry about running out of resources. Truly, human creativity makes resources of […]
Dirty Laws? That’s the confusing part of EPA regulations. While intended to do good, they end up doing quite the opposite. When a corporation dumps its toxic waste a few miles upstream from your tomato farm – sure, you can go to the EPA, but odds are the offending party has filed all the right […]
What do environmental policy, the war on drugs, economics, subsidies and modern music have in common? Learn Liberty professors have addressed all these topics and more. What sorts of countries cut down all their trees, pollute without thinking, and wipe out their animals? Prof. Antony Davies and many other professors have studied the best way […]
Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! All right? Maybe — maybe not, says scholar Daniel K. Benjamin. Making an unused tissue out of a used one wastes resources and hardly benefits the environment. Melting and casting aluminum cans, though, both saves resources and benefits the environment. But you don’t need to exhort the aluminum company to save those […]
Think you’re too small to save the world—even one species at a time? Sometimes big change starts with thinking big and perhaps a little outside the box. Take it from enviropreneur Hank Fischer. Hank Fischer was concerned about the gray wolf. It was on the endangered species list and extinct in the American West. Efforts […]
As part of the government shutdown that started October 1, the National Parks Service has closed all U.S. national parks and monuments. Would-be visitors will be denied entry to Yosemite and Yellowstone and acres and acres of national park lands until the government resumes business. Economics professor Holly Fretwell suggests an alternative that would have […]
Have you ever had an idea that you thought was good, but turned out bad? It happens to everyone. Sometimes when we make a plan, we can’t predict what all the consequences will be. These unseen effects are known by economists as “unintended consequences.” Don Boudreaux examines a major piece of legislation – the Endangered […]