Sunday, September 28, 2014
Can Property Rights Protect Nature?
In this article, John Stossel claims assigning property rights to nature will do more to protect the environment than allowing the government to protect it. He claims that when people own things and there is a simple, honest court system, the environment would be less subject to depletion. This is similar to the Coasian solution to externalities (people would act to keep their property from being harmed, while also protecting society's interests), suggesting private property rights can limit negative effects upon society, although Coase would go further in suggesting that court systems would not even be needed. Stossel does not only claim a Coasian-like solution would work; he also claims that private property rights can actually protect the environment more than government can. When the government attempts to protect the environment by making it public, you have what Stossel calls 'tragedy of the commons," which is when people treat/value public property worse than they would treat/value there own. However, I do not think Stossel takes into account the assignment problem very well.
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While it is difficult for me to say that I disagree with the argument that the author makes here, I am still hesitant to say that I am convinced by it. Like you, I am particularly unimpressed with how the issue of the assignment problem was not even addressed. Because while it is rational to assume that people will want to get as much value out of their property as they can, for some people this may include exploiting their property for personal gain. So while a fisherman in New Zealand may have an incentive not to overfish during a particular year, other people may have a huge incentive to demolish a forest so that they can develop the land, and they would not be held accountable for the loss of any vegetation and wildlife that could result from their actions. Stossel mentions in this article that property rights can exist without big government. Until he expounds on who has the authority to issue such rights, I think he has failed to produce a valid alternative to government regulation of the environment.
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