All Posts Tagged With: "pollution"
Dim Bulbs
“Hell, there are no rules here—we’re trying to accomplish something.”
—Thomas A. Edison
Edison’s words may have been true in the 1800s. Today, however, we have plenty of rules, thanks to the U.S. Congress. Some are so bizarre that you have to question the judgment of those who come up with them. One rule in particular is [...]
Saving the Environment for a Profit, Victorian-Style
Pierre Desrochers is research director at the Montreal Economic Institute (www.iedm.org).
In the mind of the 21st-century environmentalist, Victorian cities and towns evoke images of black coal smoke and unsanitary conditions. For most people of the time though, they were one of humanity’s supreme achievements. Not as clean as the countryside, no doubt, but thriving places [...]
The Impossibility of Harming the Environment
“The ‘polluter pays principle’ states that whoever is responsible for damage to the environment should bear the costs associated with it.”
—United Nations Environmental Programme1
The “polluter pays principle” appeals to our sense of justice. People should be held responsible for their actions, and polluters who cause damage to others should “pay” for that damage. Furthermore, forcing [...]
The Problem of Environmental Protection
A common belief is that economists don’t care much about the environment because they are preoccupied with money, markets, and material wealth. And when economists do consider ways to protect the environment, they emphasize benefits and costs, trying to express all values in terms of cash.
1Apr2001 | Dwight R. Lee | 0 comments | ContinuedPolluting Production
Politicians use language differently from the rest of us. Take the expression “Big Polluters.” Big Oil produces oil. Big Pharmaceuticals produce medicines. I guess Big Polluters produce air and water pollution.
What’s more, they somehow make big profits doing so. How this works I’m not sure. Who would pay for pollution?
Obviously, there are no businesses that [...]
Cleaned by Capitalism
I recently spoke in Toronto to students at a public-policy seminar sponsored by the Fraser Institute. The seminar opened with Fraser’s Laura Jones reviewing the many sound reasons why environmental alarmism is inappropriate. Ms. Jones offered superb analysis and boatloads of relevant facts. Her case that the environment is not teetering on the edge of [...]
1Feb2000 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 0 comments | Continued-
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Book Reviews
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The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy–If We Let it Happen
By Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Peter J. Tanous
