Capitol Ideas/Mine Your Own Business

...The final half-century of conflict . $19 .95/$13.95 5652 . The Twelve Caesars, by Michael Grant...

...To make the point clearer, imagin e that in the United States property rights in houses did not extend to basements...

...So, put on you r thinking caps . Among the great economics questions of our day are : Why is it useless , indeed, why is it harmful, to transfer American income to foreign countries...

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...dollars...

...Economic activity has been concentrated here because the U.S . is one o f the few countries in the world wher e property rights do include minera l rights...

...Take 3 from a larger history selection than you'll find in most consumer clubs for the dramatically low price of $1 .00 each...

...Capital is at all times shy, and it will not go where it feels threatene d or unwanted...

...All American generations have bee n somewhat idealistic...

...They have a very emotional appeal going, apparently, complete with campfire meetings, poetry readings , and "people appearing on TV cryin g about the loss of the dogie on the range . " At that I laughed and Baden said: "Don't represent me as being agains t the ranchers...

...25 .00/$16.5 0 3103 . The Zimmermann Telegram, by Barbara W. Tuchman . A classic work of World War I history...

...It was not better educated than past generations, though it was arguabl y more vulgar...

...It would take me five more lectures at least to cover what has come to be called the New Resourc e Economics, so I won't go into this any further now...

...They also own the mineral rights . Did they allow oil and gas exploration...

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...by Geoffre y Pamnder...

...2535...

...The majority o f young people in the 1960s participated in no protests or any of the other anti - social doings that were boomed as idealistic and progressive...

...Anything valuable under the surface belonged to th e government...

...I mention it only because I would like to hear from you if you have any clues or suggestions...

...I mean, harmful to the recipients . ) Why are Islamic countries unable to establish the rule of law, hence property rights...

...O Three tones more history...

...He said that the problem with the South American countries was tha t property owners didn't own the mineral rights to their land...

...N, 40 , Stamford, CT06904-079 0 I may retum these books within three weeks at your expe Or, I will buy four more books over the next two years, not above . Either the Club or I may cancel my membership al Club purchases are at Iow...

...And one might add, to the growth o f the concept of liberty as well . This thoughtful, lucid account is a work of history , not a technical legal treatise, and should be of interest to the general reader and the specialist alike . Hardcover $10 .00 ISBN 0-86597-053-X Paperback $ 4 .50 ISBN 0-86597-054-8 Prepayment is required on all orders not for resale . We pay book rate postage on prepaid orders . Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery...

...I don't want to stray from my economics lesson but I will note here that I once caused great embarrassment at the Lone Mountain Ranch, which i s where these economic conferences have been held for several years now, by ask - ing Baden and his wife, in front of about ten people, how many acres they owned...

...And that is not even a culmination, much less a decent orgy...

...I hadn't realized that out West this is th e equivalent of asking someone what hi s salary is . I confess I still don't quit e understand why acreage should be confidential, since it presumably is a mat - ter of public record...

...NSTS6A The History Book Club "tS to Trial Membership and send me the four book whose numbers I have entered below . Bill the first threee at $1 .00 each and thes whme numbers I haventered below fourth at the low Members' Price plus postage and packingt . I U.S G an uernsey Strd Canada eet m , B oail to x : t 7 h 9 e 0 History Book Club, AQ29SP Dept...

...But it appears insecure when such rights have been assigned to someone whose unimpeded actions are in - consistent with the rights you though t you had—e.g., to graze sheep . I suppose the basic point here is that it is as difficult to keep separate surface and mineral rights as it is blood from Shylock's pound of flesh . There - fore assigning such rights to separate parties is a prescription for conflict . Baden, Rick Stroup, Jim Gwartney, and others have been advocating th e privatization of Western lands for some years now . The environment is better cared for when those who use it must also pay for it...

...What the owners feared was the arrival of government employees, trucks, and drilling equipment, trampling over the land and tearing everything up...

...29 .95/$16.95 8284 . The Devil's Horsemen : The Mongol Invasion Of Europe, by James Chambers . The story of the Golden Horde...

...I was discussing some of these matters with my friend Jon Utley the othe r day when he casually said somethin g that switched on an electric light in m y head...

...All orders from outside the United States must be prepaid in US...

...These people work for law firms that are more normally called "environmental groups ." And this explains why the environmental movement has been strong in Western states : that is where property rights are relatively insecure...

...Paraphrasing Professor Hogue : in the form of writs, judicial decisions, treatises, royal ordinances, an d parliamentary statutes, the common law, in large par t the definition of established customs, emerged int o explicit written form and formal procedure to order better such ordinary relationships among Englishmen as those between landlord and tenant, merchant and money lender, and buyer and seller...

...that is, when people are responsible for their own actions . Typically with government land you en - counter the "free rider problem ." This arises when the benefit of some actio n is privatized and the cost is socialized . Public "ownership" and hence overutilization of the National Parks falls into this category...

...My generation can probabl y boast of the achievements of its scientists and engineers, but when they were numbered among the youth of the 1960s I doubt that many had time to play at communal living, drugs, an d radical politics . The Me generation's trumpeted idealism is another canard...

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...That's the end of today's class . Now we know why capitalism has worked well in North as opposed to South America...

...If you receive an unwanted book because you had less than 10 days to decide , simply return it and pay nothing . We guarantee postage . Join the History Book Club today–and save...

...Among those present were Rick Stroup of the Political Economy Researc h Center in Bozeman, his co-author Ji m Gwartney of Florida State University (their textbook Economics: Private and Public Choice is among the best), an d John Baden, who now spends a good deal of his time in Dallas, where he i s executive director of the McGuire Oi l and Gas Institute...

...My wife and I come fro m five generations of ranchers . " His point was that the ranching way of life appears perfectly secure t o ranchers who own mineral rights t o their ranches, even when Phillip s Petroleum comes knocking on the door...

...There was a shocked silence...

...The definitive account of the Viking Age and World...

...If you wan t another book, or no book at all, return the card by the date specified . (Book shipments will be charged to your account at low Members' Prices, plus postag e and packing...

...And th e birds didn't mind a bit...

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...l), by Fernand Braude...

...The point is that the Argentine situation described by Utley i s highly detrimental to any kind of economic growth . The divided contro l of surface rights and mineral rights pits government and property owners i n permanent war...

...Why North America, not South America...

...I've talked to landowners in Argentina who were terrified if they found oil on their property," Utley said...

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...Jude Wanniski in the paperback edition of The Way the World Works puts the figure at 75 per - cent in 1975 . John Baden in Dallas (I'll come to him in a minute) puts the figure today at 80 percent...

...19.95/$15 .50 How the Club Works : About every 4 weeks, (14 times per year), you'll receiv e a new issue of The History Book Club Review and a dated reply card . If you want the Editors' Choice, do nothing–the book will come automatically...

...By way of example, John Bade n mentioned the Northern Plain s Resource Council, "a group of environmentalists opposed to mineral development in Montana and the Dakotas," he said . "They organize people supposedly to save the ranching way of life...

...Let us assume that the federal government has already lease d such rights to an oil company...

...They threaten or actually file lawsuits and generally impose a high cost on the potential mineral explorers...

...At any time, mega-decibel rock groups could set up their equipment and begin banging away unde r your house...

...Now they are just ignoramuses...

...They wanted to explore for oil on his ranch . That would be no problem, Baden said , provided they agreed not to disrupt the planting season, or the lambing season , and as long as they agreed to clean u p any mess they made...

...With this in mind I went to Big Sky, Montana, recently for a Liberty Fun d conference on income redistribution . (Liberty Fund puts out those nice freemarket books advertised on this page...

...What is interesting here is the way one's perception of the world depend s on the disposition of property rights . Socialize the mineral rights and the ranchers' way of life is seen to b e threatened (and in fact it may be) . Privatize them and all is okay...

...France's revolutionary generation of the lat e eighteenth century at least culminated in an orgy of blood ; the 1960s generation culminated in whimpering and endless monologues about self...

...All countries are assumed to be somehow alike in their foundations, like Levittown houses . And all international problems considered "economic" are assigned the same solution : More money must be extracted from our (your) pockets and handed over t o whatever foreign ruler has so mismanaged his country's affairs as to be considered worthy of more cash...

...It is our histori c burden, beginning with the generatio n that overthrew an English king and affirmed the Declaration of Independence...

...So, you see, they were able to agree amicably on a contract . As it happened Phillips never did d o anything beyond some seismic explorations, "but I would have been quit e happy if they had come and drilled fo r oil," Baden said . Now consider the case of the rancher who does not own the mineral rights to his land...

...I'm not sure I have the answe r to that one...

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...A true, lucid thriller"–The New York Times $14 .95/$12.95 4630 . Why The South Lost The Civil War, by Richard Beringer Herman Hattaway, Archer Jones & William Still, Jr...

...Government, whic h should protect property, becomes it s adversary...

...11.95/$8.95 4911 . The Structures Of Everyday Life : The Limits Of The Possible, 15th-18th Century (Civilization And Capitalism, Vol...

...Over 320 illustrations...

...The best illustration of this, lovingly cited by Baden and Stroup, is the Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary in Louisiana, owned by the National Audubon Society...

...Just a s in Argentina, the rancher dreads the ar - rival of the oilmen, knowing that h e has no contractual right to preven t them from disrupting his life on th e ranch...

...But as we shall see in connection with John Baden, that is not true all over the United States . ) Please note: The point I am makin g is not simply that oil production is th e sine qua non of prosperity, or that th e U.S . is rich simply because it has provided encouragement to oil companies . We know from Japan, Hong Kong, an d South Korea that national prosperity does not depend on the mining o f minerals...

...So what does the rancher do...

...MAYA: The Riddle And Rediscovery Of A Lost Civilization, by Charles Galkmkamp...

...w1thTnal Mepmbershi (First price is publishers' list...

...As Calvin Coolidge memorably said : "The prime element in the value of al l property is the knowledge that it s THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR AUGUST 1986 I i peaceful enjoyment will be publicl y defended ." Governments with mineral rights do not defend property, they invade it . At the least they are entitled to invade it, and the possibility that the y might do so undermines the security o f property...

...How the erosion of Confederate nationalism led to defeat . $29 .95/$18.00 5264...

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...A timely look at the power, successes and failures of the Caesars...

...Aside from turbulence and stupidity their social bequest has bee n decidedly mediocre...

...When in the fullness o f time all the superlatives about the baby boomers have been scaled down, one new superlative will stand and endure , to wit: No generation in American history has been so misrepresented . Truth be known, my age cohort constituted just another generation of Yanks, n o better and no worse, merely bigger an d tinged by a bit more decadence...

...In his final chapter, "From Medieval Law to Modern Law," Hogue concludes, "The rule of law, the development of law by means of judicial precedents, the use o f the jury to determine the material facts of a case, an d the definition of numerous causes of action—these form the principal and valuable legacy of the medieval law to the modern law...

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...To order, or for a copy of our catalogue, write : LibertyPress/LibertyClassics 7440 North Shadeland, Dept . S 10 1 Indianapolis, IN 4625 0 12 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR AUGUST 1986 ing out of inconsistent "rights " assigned to separate parties...

...Mark it down as an indication o f the slovenliness of thought surrounding the Me generation that it is at once praised for idealistic social commitment and recognized today for its reluctance to participate in organized society, for its pursuit of personal happiness down all the kook byways of exotic therapy, and for its increasingly lonely absorption with self...

...It's an amazing fact that the underly - ing substratum of law, lawlessness, or tyranny in different countries is of next Tom Bethel/ is The American Spectator's Washington correspondent...

...to no interest to most economists an d journalists...

...They were arrogant ignoramuses from the start...

...Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins Of The Constitution, b y Forrest McDonald . The first major interpretation of the framing of the Constitution i n more than two decades...

...The point here is not simply that, because they owne d the rights, they experienced the "opportunity cost" (lost opportunity) of not permitting drilling, (although such exposure to financial incentives is not to be sneezed at) . The point is that th e Audubon Society was not afraid to admit the oilmen because they had th e legal right to shape the contract, telling the oilmen what they could and could not do...

...All these points have been made be - fore, and the somber fact is I anticipated them 16 years ago in a dissent - ing contribution to an anthology of baby boomer gasconade, fittingly title d Youth Manifesto—an obscure book , whose radical contributors time ha s forgotten...

...To be sure it hauled in more degrees, but throughout the 1960s university degrees grew steadily cheape r as standards were discarded . If mine were an intellectually distinguished generation, by now its Faulkners would be observable or at least its Fitzgeralds...

...Print Name Address _ City State Zip retum these books within three weeks at your use and owe nothing . including my choice s mernbership any time thereafter...

...Incorporates a century of research...

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...The moderate majority was right when these insufferabl e brats were wrong . This time around we ought not quietly to endure their legends and their whines . q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C A P I T O L I D E A S MINE YOUR OWN YOUR BUSINESS by Tom Bethell Pay attention class...

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...The potential fo r amicable agreement has been superseded by the likelihood of conflict aris - IibertyPiess ORIGINS OF THE COMMON LAW By Arthur R . Hogue first published in 1966 by Indiana University Press , Arthur R. Hogue's Origins of the Common Law looks at the deep medieval roots of our legal system durin g the early formative period of the common law . Betwee n 1154 and 1307, from the reign of Henry II to that of Edward I, common law experienced a spectacular growth as a legal system enforced in the English Roya l Courts...

...25.00/$17.0 0 4648 . Hitler's Mistakes, by Ronald Lewin . The shortcomings of the Fuehrer–his persistent errors in judgment and his unnecessary actions . $14.95/$12 .50 4432 . "And I Was There" : Pearl Harbor And Midway–Breaking The Secrets, by Rear Adm . Edwin Layton, & Pineau & Costello...

...Your "peaceful enjoyment" of your property would b e sharply diminished . So too would it s value...

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...Most supported American policy abroad, and the majority voted for Richard Nixon in 1972 over the most radical presidential candidate theretofore...

...A work of mastery . $22 .50/$16.5 0 3897...

...There would be a Stravinsky or at least a Gershwin, a Chagall or a sweet old Rockwell...

...He forms a coalition with lawyers who know enough legal tricks to keep the unwelcome intruders off his land altogether...

...It wasn't the "Protestan t work ethic...

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...This is one o f those economics lectures you all loo k forward to so much . You will be learning something that is of basic importance, quite easily understood, and yet , almost inexplicably, beyond the ken o f most economics professors and (need I say) journalists...

...He is not able to come to an amicable agreement because the mineral or "basement" rights are no t his to negotiate...

...11I), by Fernand Braude, . $35 .00/$18.5 0 1859 . The Celts: The People WhoCame Out Of The Darkness, by Gerhard Henn . An epic study of 2,000 years . $15 .00/$10.5 0 8649 . World Religions: From Ancient History To The Present, ed...

...Yet now the aging heralds o f my generation are at it again, crankin g out the party line . Their every enthusiasm, from dope to abscondin g from Vietnam, turned out a botch, and still we have to listen to them . Thei r latest complaints are that their parent s have done better financially and tha t they themselves are mysteriously col - lapsing into conservatism . Their comparative unhappiness serves them right...

...Yes they did, and now they have six producing wells bringing the Society "close to a million dollars a year" in royalties, ac - cording to Baden and Stroup...

...15 .95/$10.951 3996 . Jesus Through The Centuries: His Place In The History Of Culture, by Jaroslav Pelican...

...Based on the Hebrew Bibl e and modem archaeological sources . $19 .95/$14.5 0 1453 . The Perspective Of The World : 15th-18th Century (Civilization and Capitalism, Vol...

...That would be n o problem, Phillips said, and of cours e they would be paying a 12 .5 percent royalty if they did find oil...

...guarantee it...

...It was and is the law...

...The probable result is that they stay away, so that no oil is produced...

...31 .95/$15.5 0 8490 . The Indian Frontier Of The American West, 1846-1890, by Robert M . Utley...

...The most egregious falsehoo d disfiguring the reality of my generation, of course, is the canard that it wa s a radical generation...

...14.95/$10.95 4390422.95316.50 THE AMERICAN SPECTATOR AUGUST 1986 13...

...Utley then said that he thought abou t 85 percent of oil wells and explorator y holes in the world have been drilled in the Lower 48 states...

...Move Your Shadow: South Africa, Black & White, by Joseph Lelyveld...

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...And, of particular interest, why has the Unite d States been (until recently) so much more productive than all other countries...

...Anyway, Baden explained, one day Phillips Petroleum Company came and knocked on his front door...

...It is always a pleasure to talk to these people becaus e they appear to be among the few economists in the country who under - stand the immense political, economic , and environmental implications of property rights . Baden owns a sheep and cattle ranch in the Gallatin Valley, south of Bozeman, Montana . He called the situation described by Jon Utley in Argentina the "split estate problem " and said that it was also widespread in the Western United States where, i n many cases, the federal governmen t granted the surface rights to farmer s and ranchers, "but retained the subsurface or mineral rights for themselves . " He added that he was one of the lucky ones: on his ranch he owns both mineral and surface rights...

...He added that he had heard stories of owners "bribing their workers not t o say a word to anyone if they found oil seeping up to the surface somewhere o n the estate...