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Roderick Long on Property
Thursday, July 31, 2008 1:07 AM

I was reading Roderick Long's article, " Land-Locked: A Critique of Carson on Property Rights ," and came across an argument that left me somewhat skeptical. I've recently become convinced that appropriation needs to be justified on the grounds of being a desirable "game," as Schmidtz argues in his essay, " The Institution of... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Appropriation and Environmentalism

Cap and Trade vs. the Carbon Tax
Friday, June 13, 2008 5:09 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] So I've been addressing the issue of anthropogenic climate change for some time now, and I haven't said much in the way of addressing specific policy proposals. But I was just given a delightful present by one of my fellow FEE associates: a copy of the American Institute for Economic Research's latest Economic Education... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Climate Change, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Economics, Emergent Problems, Compensation

Intertemporal Pollution, Accountability, and Justice in Appropriation
Wednesday, April 09, 2008 3:09 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] If we are ever able to quantify the effects of pollution, we will still need to establish the degree to which particular contributors can be held accountable for those effects. It is important to recognize that in many cases, polluting acts have happened, and will continue to happen, over a long period of time. The significance... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Opportunity

Is There a Right to Culture?
Thursday, April 03, 2008 3:52 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] Last week I had a conversation with my thesis advisor, Dr. Harry Brighouse, in which we discussed an interesting idea which I think might prove important in one way or another, and which I think is worthy of elaboration here. The idea was that a big part of what people are concerned about in discussing climate change is that... Read More...

by Donny with an A | 2 comment(s)

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Climate Change, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Opportunity, Lifestyles

Climate Change, Vanishing Lifestyles, and Children
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 7:56 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] So in a previous post , I discussed a case in which rising sea levels, resulting from a warming of the Earth, caused the salinization of a Bangladeshi farmer's land, so that he could no longer grow rice on it in the way to which he was accustomed. I concluded that as the owner of the land, with full property rights, he should... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Climate Change, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Opportunity, Lifestyles

Climate Change and Market Definition of Property Rights
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 1:35 AM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] A fellow named Gregory responded to my post, " Can the Free Market Solve the Problems Posed by Climate Change? " with an argument which I think deserves to be discussed in some depth. Gregory wrote: If the market has not arrived at an efficient means regulating itself (compensating those damaged) then a government... Read More...

by Donny with an A | 2 comment(s)

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Climate Change, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Emergent Problems

Can the Free Market Solve the Problems Posed by Climate Change?
Thursday, March 20, 2008 5:22 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] When confronted by the possibility of climate change, many libertarians default to the position that the free market, with its ability to mobilize the ingenuity of the economy for the satisfaction of the desires of the people, will provide the solutions we desire. I want to discuss this view, because I think it is the result... Read More...

by Donny with an A | 4 comment(s)

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Climate Change, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Economics

Does Intrinsic Value in Nonconscious Objects Create Problems for Property Rights?
Sunday, March 02, 2008 2:51 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] So I wrote earlier about the idea of nonconscious objects having intrinsic value, and I was wondering about the implications of what I said for our normal conceptions regarding property rights. Basically, I argued that some objects, like the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls, have the inherent capacity to inspire significant reactions... Read More...

by Donny with an A | 4 comment(s)

Filed under: Justice, Property Rights, Appropriation and Environmentalism, Intrinsic Value, Opportunity

A Short Story
Thursday, February 21, 2008 2:37 PM

[Cross-posted on the parent blog ] Imagine, for a moment, that I am in front of Sally's house, preparing to break in and steal all of her possessions. A local policeman sees what I am about to do, and pauses to calculate how much Sally would be harmed if I carried out my plan. He approaches me and says, "If you pay Sally the amount that you would harm... Read More...

by Donny with an A | with no comments

Filed under: Justice, Appropriation and Environmentalism