Both history and the contemporary world provide us with countless examples illustrating the importance of property rights to individual flourishing. From Plymouth Colony to Pyongyang, from Venezuela to China, when property rights are respected and protected, individuals prosper and thrive. When property rights are violated, misery and suffering is the inevitable result. Why is this…
The city of Houston recently enacted stricter regulations governing boarding houses. The Houston Chronicle reported that: The ordinances — prompted by several fires in unregulated and unsafe multi-resident housing facilities over the last year — follow months of meetings between city officials and community groups and wrangling between city agencies. The purported goal of the…
It would be an gross understatement to say that I am not a fan of environmentalists. I think that environmentalists are among the most nihilistic human beings who have ever existed. But they have a mantra–think globally and act locally–that is interesting, informative, and worth emulating. In essence, the mantra means: apply a principle to…
Across America, the owners of short-term rental (STR) properties are under attack. Legislators are passing laws to restrict, and in some cases ban, short-term rentals. While the critics make a variety of claims about STRs, two essential principles unite these claims. In this course, you will learn the meaning and nature of property rights, the…
When I moved to Houston from New York in 1980, one of the first places I wanted to visit was the Astrodome. Though I knew little about its history, to me, the Astrodome symbolized Houston and Texas. It was often called the eighth wonder of the world–an innovation that captured the spirit of cowboys and…
I have previously written, albeit briefly, about both the economic and moral aspects of opposition to Austin’s CodeNext. The debate over the city’s proposed new land-use regulations is an example of the gang warfare that permeates modern American politics. On one side we have developers and their lobbyists. On the other side, we have community…
In the last post, we briefly examined the contradictory goals of some opponents of Austin’s proposed new land-use regulations. The opponents support regulations that limit density and impose other controls on developers that add as much as 40 percent to the cost of new housing. In this post, we will examine the moral component of…
It is understandable that individuals are more passionate about property rights issues that have a direct impact on their lives. For example, rural Texans are more concerned about eminent domain, water rights, and endangered species regulations, and they have little or no concern about historic preservation or tree protection ordinances. Urban Texans are more concerned…
For the past five years, the city of Austin has been working on a revised land-use ordinance called CodeNext. The ordinance has grown to 1,500 pages and is attracting a great deal of controversy. Opponents have organized a petition drive to submit the plan to voters. One group opposed to the the new ordinance, Community…
Twenty-five years ago, Al Norman led an effort to prevent Walmart from building a store in Greenfield, Massachusetts. In the years since, he has helped keep big-box stores out of dozens of small towns across the country. Norman and his fellow activists claim that their efforts are aimed at helping small, independent retailers. National chains,…
The right to property means the freedom to create, use, keep, trade, and dispose of values. The ways in which this can be done are limited only by human imagination. Last week, I experienced the creation of value in a way that I would have never imagined, but somebody else did. And I appreciate it….