Archive for Paul Schwennesen

Paul Schwennesen is a southern Arizona rancher and is a regular contributor to PERC, the Property and Environment Research Center. He can be reached at The Agrarian.

Wolf Heads and Carbon Credits

Abraham Lincoln, in vivid recollections from early childhood, described the cashing of bounty for freshly severed wolf heads on the steps of an Indiana courthouse. In 1816 killing wolves at public expense was seen as an obvious necessity and probably represented a genuine emotional reassurance to the intrepid settlers of the era. Though it places [...]

21Sep2011 | | 5 comments | Continued

A Tale of Two Situations

Once upon a time selling a chicken was fraught with few if any legal implications. Remodeling a shed was equally simple from a regulatory standpoint. Today, however, we live in more enlightened times. Protected from our wayward desires by an empowered bureaucracy, we can rest easier knowing that decisions like what we eat and where [...]

24Aug2011 | | 4 comments | Continued

Gouging, Free Markets, and the Psychology of Fuel

By promoting the individual development and harnessing of fuel, we can avoid the pitfalls posed by centralized control.

25Jul2011 | | 6 comments | Continued

Food Debate: Stick to Persuasion

The vibrant social debate over what makes for good food and where to get it is an excellent one to have. But let’s keep it (and the choices people make) out in the open, not behind the counter of the State.

15Jun2011 | | 7 comments | Continued

Local Food Makes Strange Dining Companions

Ironically enough, while many so-called liberals express skepticism about laissez-faire economies, they are the first to indignantly resist intrusion by bureaucrats into local farmers’ markets.

1Jun2011 | | 14 comments | Continued

“Big Meat” and Big Government

Ranchers are a fairly independent bunch. We don’t like overweening authority and prefer to fend for ourselves. We also find few things more objectionable than sitting endlessly indoors. Nevertheless, 2,000 of us did just that several months ago in the ballroom of Colorado State University. Our ballroom session wasn’t very romantic, I’m afraid. While most [...]

25May2011 | | 0 comments | Continued

Wolf Heads and Carbon Credits

Something tells me, deep inside, that managed overreaction to carbon emissions will lead just as surely to the kind of devastating policies that gave us wolves-as-an-endangered-species.

9May2011 | | 14 comments | Continued

A Tale of Two Situations

It would be wonderful to live in a world where selling a chicken and remodeling a shed weren’t rife with official allegations or burdened with state prohibitions.

4May2011 | | 11 comments | Continued

Safe Food at Any Cost

We all want safe food. Question is, how do we get it? “There oughta be a law” seems to be the generally conceived approach, as evidenced by recent passage of the now-famous food safety bill. A tidy and altogether comforting solution: Simply slay the beast of dangerous food with the bludgeon of enlightened bureaucracy. But [...]

21Apr2011 | | 1 comment | Continued

“Big Meat” and Big Government

Inviting authoritarian oversight into your competitor’s business always seems like a good idea at the time, but when the same authorities start pounding on your door the notion loses some of its charm.

14Feb2011 | | 5 comments | Continued

Safe Food at Any Cost

More regulations always have the effect of reducing the number of operators in the regulated sector.

7Feb2011 | | 13 comments | Continued

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