According to Terry L. Anderson and Daniel Botkin, “Fighting Western Fires with Economics” is a good idea. Were I writing an essay with this title, I would emphasize the role of private property rights. If all forests were owned by individuals and private corporations, those that did well in protecting their trees from conflagrations would prosper, those who failed to do so would lose money and eventually be forced into bankruptcy. Whereupon the ones who were more efficient protectors of the woodlands would  take over the holdings of the failures, and more and more acreage would fall under the control … Continue reading Fighting Fires Without Socialism