—–Original Message—–
From: DH
Sent: Thu 11/17/2016 6:37 AM
To: Walter Block
Subject: Re: Access to documents on free market environmentalism
I am a student in Chile. I study computer science (I graduate next year hopefully), but have been a libertarian activist and columnist for some years now. My fianceé is not libertarian, nor markedly political in any way. She studied veterinary medicine and cares about environmental issues, especially those regarding animals, so I’m trying to reach to her in this topic, as I’m very passionate about libertarianism (I’m a proud AnCap hehe). The problem is that she has no background in economics, and economic jargon is unappealing to her. I realise that there are many people in the same situation (care for environment, but don’t care for economic jargon) who could be reached if there was some good resource that was not heavy in economic jargon and technicality, while still making the case for free market environmentalism from a libertarian perspective. That’s why I’m asking if you know of any such resource, something akin to “Economics and the Environment – A reconciliation”, but written in a more layman-friendly way that appeals more to people who care about the environment but are not familiar with economics. If there is none, then it’s clear to me that there is a huge need for a book similar to Hazlitt’s “Economics in one Lesson” or Sowell’s “Basic Economics”, but dealing with FME. Also, do you have any opinion regarding PERC (Property and Environment Reaserch Center)? Are they any good? Thanks in advance for your time, I’m a huge fan of yours! Saludos, DH
Dear DH: Good luck with your fiancé. Many libertarians have wives, girlfriends, with whom they do not fully agree on political economy. Sometimes, often, this makes for even more interesting discussions than otherwise!
I would rate PERC a B-. They are not all that bad. However, they bill themselves as free market environmentalists, and they do not really make good on that promise. See on that, this article of mine: Block, Walter E. 2016. “PERC does NOT support private property rights and free enterprise.” May 16; https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/perc-not-support-private-property-rights-free-enterprise/
5:13 pm on November 18, 2016 Email Walter E. Block
