OpenMarket: Property Rights

The Department of Interior recently announced proposed revisions to enforcement of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These revisions are designed to lessen the regulatory burdens of this ineffective and outdated piece of legislation. The Endangered Species Act was passed almost 45 years ago in 1973. It was inspired by the environmentalism of the 1960s-70s and the growing fear that certain animals were facing extinction due to human impact on the natural world. Environmentalists defend the ESA with the assertion that its regulations are saving species, but it just takes time.

Social media outlets have been filled with commentary this week about the decisions by Apple, Facebook, YouTube, and Spotify to remove content created by talk show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. This is a useful opportunity to clarify what actually counts as “censorship” and what responsibilities that media platforms have to the public.

In a move that furthers the Trump administration’s goal of reducing unnecessary and duplicative red tape while also helping refocus his agency’s efforts on its statutorily-defined core functions, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a memorandum announcing that the agency would limit its interference with the Army Corps of Engineers’ permitting process under the Clean Water Act. In particular, Administrator Pruitt said the agency will prepare a proposed regulation that restricts EPA’s ability to override the Army Corps’ permitting decisions either before or after the fact. 

John Stossel discusses the history of eminent domain—the legal power that allows local governments to seize property from owners for supposedly public purposes—and how it was famously applied in real life to take the home of New London, Connecticut nurse Susette Kelo in the early 2000s. Kelo’s legal fight to keep her home in turn inspired screenwriter and director Courtney Balaker to create the film starring Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich, Capote) and Jeanne Tripplehorn (Big Love, Criminal Minds) that is...

It is enormously gratifying that this year’s winner of the Julian Simon Award is Hernando de Soto, whose work around the world to define, allocate, and defend property rights has lifted millions out of poverty. Human flourishing is almost impossible without property rights and the rule of law, and so before millions of poor people around the world are able to realize Julian Simon’s optimistic vision, they need de Soto to defend their rights. 

Blockchain is a software architecture that seems very likely to unleash profound global forces if it crosses over into the mainstream.