We examine a stark setting in which security or protection can be provided by self-governing groups or by for-profit entrepreneurs (kings, kleptocrats, or mafia dons). Though selfgovernance is best for the population, it faces problems of long-term viability. Typically, in providing security the...

The end ofWorld War II marked the birth of the modern chemical industry. From that time synthetic rubbers, fibers, and complex organohalogens have been produced in large commercial quan- tities, such that each member of modern society is exposed to chemicals of exotic physiocheniical activity....

In this paper I will focus on risk controversies of a familiar type: Someone in one locale is concerned about being seriously injured as a result of human activities carried on elsewhere. The discussion will be limited to risks that are unintentional in the sense that no one is deliberately...

It is commonly assumed that private property rights are incompati- ble with the preservation of such environmental and recreational amenities as our national parks and that governmental ownership is therefore required. This paper takes a different approach and ar- gues that private alternatives...

Law is a set of commands; the principles of tort or criminal law, which we shall be dealing with, are negative commands or prohibi- tions, on the order of “thou shalt not†do actions, X, Y, or Z.1 In short, certain actions are considered wrong to such a degree that it is considered...

In 1972 Congress established the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in which the Environmental Protection Agency was given responsibility to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.’’ Two national goals of...

Growth of the governmental regulation of economic activities since the depression is normally associated with industrial produc- tion.’ Indeed, pollution controls, work-safety requirements, and antitrust actions have recently been cited as contributing to declin- ing productivity and...