The Ultimate Resource, by Julian Simon (Princeton: Princeton University
Press,
1981). Places the human capacity for entrepreneurship and creativity at
the center of
the solutions to current environmental and resource problems.
"The Tragedy of the Commons," by Garrett Hardin in Science 162 (1968):
1243-48.
Classic statement of how "common owership" leads to overuse of
resources;
suggestive of a private property alternative that would stop
environmental decay.
"Ackerman and Hassler's Clean Coal/Dirty Air," by Robert Crandall in Bell
Journal
of Economics 12 (Autumn 1981): 677-82. Shows how bureaucratic/political
environmental management suffers from "rent seeking," i.e., pursuit of
privilege by
special interests rather than simple concern for environmental quality.
Free Market Environmentalism, by Terry L. Anderson and Donald R. Leal
(San
Francisco: Pacific Research Institute, 1991). This brief work is the
best introduction
to the property rights approach to environmentalism, which focuses
attention on
institutions and incentives, rather than simply good intentions. This
book is not
only excellent for understanding ecological issues, but also serves as a
good
introduction to the economics of property rights and institutions.
Economics and the Environment: A Reconciliation, ed. by Walter Block
(Vancouver, B.C.: Fraser Institute, 1990). This volume presents a useful
collection of
essays on general and specific themes concerning the environment.
Visions Upon the Land: Man and Nature on the Western Range, by Karl Hess,
Jr.
(Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1992). Weaving together history,
cultural analysis,
and modern illustrative examples, Hess shows that federal western land
policies
have served to degrade the environment.
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