"The first seminar I was invited to was on global warming and climate change. I had no idea what FREE was or who John Baden was, but the invitation mentioned some of those who had already agreed to attend, and one of them was a scientist I had got to know well, and to trust...I took his selection as a good sign, joined the seminar, signed on for more, and have never been disappointed."
The Montana Territory adopted its State Seal in 1865. When joining the Union in 1889 it kept the original content and design. The motto, Oro y Plata, gold and silver, indicated early sources of Montana’s wealth and political power. In 1891 there was a move to create an entirely new seal but these efforts failed. Mining retained its power.
August 25 of 2016 is the centennial of the U. S. Park Service. It was one of the great and largely successful experiments of the Progressive Era reformers.
I recently received an announcement of a forthcoming book, Debunking Utopia. Its author, Nima Sanandaji, Ph. D., is Kurdish-Swedish and has written Scandinavian Unexceptionalism and The Nordic Gender Equality Paradox. He is the president of the European Centre for Entrepreneurship and Policy Reform (www.ecepr.org). He began with this:
Ramona and I are traveling through Portugal observing the culture and economy of Lisbon and Porto. We are in route to give lectures at the University of Aix en Provence in France arriving in Lisbon the day after the Brexit vote to leave the EU. People here were far more interested in the European soccer games.
John and Ramona are in Europe presenting a series of talks on the creation and dissemination of the New Resource Economics, the NRE. They and other professors at MSU developed the NRE approach to environmental policy in the 1970s and as their invitation to speak in Europe indicates, it flourishes today.
John and Ramona are leaving for Europe to present a series of talks on the creation and dissemination of the New Resource Economics, the NRE. They and other professors at MSU developed the NRE approach to environmental policy in the 1970s and as their invitation to speak in Europe indicates, it flourishes today. The NRE emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurship in protecting, promoting, and restoring ecological sustainability.
Here is a true, empirical, universal generalization: Citizens in large and complex societies become dissatisfied when their government seizes and transfers wealth to prospective voters. Such allocations are partially, sometimes entirely, based on political calculations. Whatever the claims and justifications, over time benefits tend to flow toward the wealthy and politically powerful. And also to the destitute and disadvantaged, people whose votes can be harvested with promises of entitlement and welfare payments.
My economist friends often stress the efficiency losses when government favors powerful interests. Alas, these friends discount the accompanying decay of trust. Such erosion naturally follows when democratic governments allocate wealth and opportunities.
Today many sincere conservationists and environmentalists recognize that responsible liberty and modest prosperity foster sustainable ecology. They understand that poverty is a terrible polluter and that liberty is a requisite for environmental entrepreneurship. Further, good intentions are most effective when incentives promote responsible behavior.
