Political Economy Research Center, Bozeman, MT
Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, San Francisco, CA
Free Market Environmentalism by Terry Anderson and Donald Leal
Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, San Francisco, CA, 1991
Published as a collaboration by the Political Economy Research Center and the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, Free Market Environmentalism redefined the terms of the environmental debate and placed its authors firmly at the forefront of the international debate over the environment. Backed up by theory and application, the book makes a compelling case for the important contribution markets can play in preserving, protecting and enhancing the environment.
Traditionally, free markets and the environment have been seen as incompatible, the perception being that resource exploitation and environmental degradation are inextricably linked to economic growth. Anderson and Leal challenge this view, which sees governmental control as a necessary check on the environmental rages of free markets, and offer an alternative approach to managing natural resources, based on property rights, individual decision making and market-oriented solutions. They demonstrate that governmental policies often exacerbate environmental problems because of inadequate incentives and information. A property rights approach that focuses on the costs of operating markets as well as governments, they contend, lays the framework for thinking about problems ranging from water quality to global warming.
A collaborative effort of the Political Economy Research Center and the Pacific Research Institute, two of the pioneers of the free market environmentalist movement, the book has had a lasting impact both in the U.S. and abroad. Free market institutes around the world have translated and distributed the book in their home countries, several with the support and assistance of Atlas. Free Market Environmentalism has been translated into a host of languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Chinese, and Swedish, with more translations planned. In 2000, a new edition of the book was published by St. Martin’s Press (New York, NY).
The Hong Kong Centre for Economic Research
International Telecommunications in Hong Kong by Milton Mueller
The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong, 1992
International Telecommunications in Hong Kong examines the impact of new technologies and alternative institutional arrangements on the delivery of telecommunication services. Author Milton Mueller illustrates how Hong Kong’s economic interests are hamstrung by the monopoly the country’s government granted to Hong Kong Telecommunications International on nearly all international telecommunications services. Such a barrier to open competition in the industry, Mueller argues, hinders the country’s opportunities for economic development and threatens to seriously compromise political liberty in Hong Kong in the future. As Dr. Richard Y.C. Wong, director of The Hong Kong Centre for Economic Research noted in nominating the book, ‘In the modern age of information technology, open access to telecommunications is critical to a free society.’
Following its publication, the book generated heated public debate in Hong Kong. In a series of exchanges that continued for six months, debate over the merits of competition and monopoly took place in local newspapers and international trade publications. The impact of the book prompted a second edition, which offered an epilogue chronicling developments that occurred following the first edition. International Telecommunications in Hong Kong has also garnered attention abroad, with a Japanese translation of the study planned.
The book is part of The Hong Kong Centre for Economic Research’s Friedman Lecture Fund Monograph series. The fund was established with proceeds from a public lecture given by Milton Friedman in Hong Kong in 1988, a year after the institute was established. The goal of the fund is to support research that leads to an improved understanding of the role of markets in economic life.
CEDICE, Caracas, Venezuela
Social Security in Venezuela (La Seguridad Social en Venezuela) by Carlos Sabino and Jesus Rodriguez Armas
Editorial Texto, Caracas, Venezuela, 1992
Social Security in Venezuela was the first book published in Venezuela that explained the dangers of government involvement in ’social security’, a term that in Venezuela encompasses elderly care, free and universal health care, low-cost housing and unemployment insurance, and ignited a national debate.
In the CEDICE book, Carlos Sabino and Jesus Rodrígµez Armas analyzed the failure of past social security policies and explored the dangers posed by policies that had been recently enacted. In the process, they suggested a radical rethinking of national priorities, arguing that freedom is more important than security and that real social security is best affected by creating an environment in which people can improve their situation through their own efforts.
The book not only initiated an important policy debate in Venezuela, it took that debate beyond the small public policy community and introduced it to the public in a language and manner that was both accessible and thought-provoking. The book was sold at bookstores throughout Venezuela, as well as being distributed to many colleges and universities in Latin America, and to the Venezuelan national assembly. With the help of Atlas, the book was translated into English and was distributed to colleges and think tanks in the United States.
Seven years after Social Security in Venezuela was first published, Venezuela enacted new laws regarding social security, which moved the country dramatically toward a market-oriented pension system similar to that of Chile. Despite dangerous trends in the country since dictator Hugo Chavez took power in 1999, CEDICE continues to play an important role in the ongoing battle of ideas in Venezuela.
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