Residents in Victoria recently sought to expand the city’s preservation ordinance to include trees. They want to prevent property owners from removing trees. The Victoria Advocate reports: [Bernard] Klimist, who has run a law firm from a historic building he renovated on Santa Rosa Street since 1991, said the property owner’s rights must be tempered…
In recent years, we have repeatedly been told that Texas is facing an affordable housing crisis. In June 2017, the Texas Tribune reported that “more than 2 million urban Texan households, most of them renters, are considered financially burdened by housing costs because they spend 30 percent or more of their income on housing — and…
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. In the years since, this has been a source of great controversy. What is a public use? And what is just compensation? In this brief, we will examine the latter issue. To fully…
In Part 2 of this series, we saw how minimum wage laws erect barriers to the “little guy” by making it more difficult for him to obtain the job skills that will command a higher wage. Occupational licensing laws are another example. As one example, suppose you want to offer African hair braiding services. In…
In Part 1 of this series, we examined how property rights protect the freedom of the “little guy” to improve his economic status. But when property rights are violated, the opportunities are diminished. The minimum wage is one example. Suppose an employer could use someone to perform mundane tasks, such as sweeping the floor or…
We often think of property rights in regard to the wealthy and big corporations. In a certain sense, this is understandable. They have a lot of property. But property rights are important to everyone, including the “little guy” who has little property. The right to property means the freedom to create, use, keep, trade, and…
Persuading others to adopt our position on an issue (or move closer to our position) can be a difficult task. Yet, if we wish to successfully defend property rights, we must persuade those who are ambivalent or opposed to our position. We cannot do this through patronizing lectures or divisive claims about our opponents. This …
What is property? What are rights? What does the right to property mean? The answers to these questions are crucial. Our answers will determine our effectiveness in defending property rights. In this course, you will learn the source of property and the nature of rights. You will learn what the right to property entails, and…