On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 2:09 PM, TB wrote:
Hi Walter! Hope all has been well with you. Quick question: I’m debating with someone whether people have the right to build over/under others’ private property (in other words, do homeowners own the air and dirt that’s within the limits of their private property)? I recall reading something that you wrote on this subject a few years ago. Would you mind refreshing my memory on the title of it so I can look it up? Thanks! TB
<<I wrote about that here:
Block, Walter E. 2009. The Privatization of Roads and Highways: Human and Economic Factors; Auburn, AL: The Mises Institute; http://www.amazon.com/Privatization-Roads-And-Highways-Factors/dp/1279887303/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336605800&sr=1-1; available for free here: http://mises.org/books/roads_web.pdf; http://mises.org/daily/3416; http://www.walterblock.com/wp-content/uploads/publications/radical_privatization.pdf; audio: http://store.mises.org/Privatization-of-Roads-and-Highways-Audiobook-P11005.aspx; http://www.audible.com/pd/Business/The-Privatization-of-Roads-and-Highways-Audiobook/B0167IT18K?tag=misesinsti-20; http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=bf16b152ccc444bdbbcc229e4&id=6cbc90577b&e=54244ea97d
From: TB
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2016 1:23 PM
To: walter block
Subject: Re: “Owning” the Air
Also, one more question for you if you don’t mind. I have always subscribed to Rothbard’s views on air/noise pollution, in which violations that can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt can result in class action lawsuits and arbitration. My friend believes that this is ridiculous. She says that people should sign contracts or join homeowners’ associations if they want to stop this stuff (example: if you don’t want a highway that causes air and noise pollution to be built next door to you in the future, then you need to include that in a contract or have a homeowners’ association negotiate it away for you!) The argument seems off to me. Do you think it has any merit? Many thanks.
<< I think both arguments have merit. And Rothbard would support them both. I certainly would. But, the arguments he makes in this magnificent essay of his, see below, are more powerful. Why? Because not everyone will join the condominium or homeowner’s association. Suppose some outsider pollutes the condo property? Then, we must resort to suing in the (hopefully private) court.
Rothbard, Murray N. 1982. "Law, Property Rights, and Air Pollution," Cato Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring; reprinted in Economics and the Environment: A Reconciliation, Walter E. Block , ed., Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, 1990, pp. 233-279; http://mises.org/story/2120; http://www.mises.org/rothbard/lawproperty.pdf;
https://mises.org/library/law-property-rights-and-air-pollution-0
