Encouraging Michigan’s Forest...
Transcript of Encouraging Michigan’s Forest...
Encouraging Michigan’s Forest EconomyMarket and Policy Options
Jason Hayes, Director Environmental PolicyMackinac Center for Public Policy
Advancing liberty and opportunity for all peoplethrough research and education.
Free Market Environmentalism• Harness market forces• Improve environmental
quality
• Recognize the value of• Individual decision making• Private property rights• Voluntary trade
Source: PERC.org
Political Environmentalism • Perception of value -marginal costs vs. marginal benefits is often determined by what hat you wear
Source: perc.org, pexels.com, NPS.gov, wildandscenicfilmfestival.org, Unsplash.com
Political Environmentalism• Settle land/water use
disputes with laws, regulations, litigation
• You want to hike / I want to hunt• “There oughta be a law!”• Regulate or litigate• I win, you lose
Source: economist.com
We want the maximum good per person; but what is good?To one person it is wilderness, to another it is ski lodges for thousands. To
one it is estuaries to nourish ducks for hunters to shoot;to another it is factory land.
Comparing one good with another is, we usually say, impossible because goods are incommensurable. Incommensurables cannot be compared.
—Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the CommonsSource: pexels.com
Source: pexels.com
So, how to create the “maximum good”?
Two key principles infree-market environmentalism
1. Wealth helps2. Incentives matter
Source: bizarro.com
Sustained economic growth requires innovation, and innovation cannot be decoupled from creative destruction, which replaces the old with the new in the economic realm and also destabilizes established power relations in politics.
Daron Acemoglu and James RobinsonWhy Nations Fail
Source: Pexels.com
Some old ideas are still essential for success• Secure access to affordable raw materials• Realistic regulation
Promoting the forest bioeconomy• Collaboration – information-sharing• Third Party Certifications• Competition• Education of customer base / accurate science• Consumer involvement & demand
Source: Pexels.com
Public lands / National ForestsPrivate Conservation Working Group
Jason HayesDirector of Environmental PolicyThe Mackinac Center for Public Policyhttp://www.mackinac.org989-631-0900