Eco-nomics: What Everyone Should Know About Economics and the Environment

It’s one thing to be passionate about protecting the environment. It’s another to be successful at it. This history of environmentalism includes a constant shift from one concern to another, and many laws have been enacted to clean up pollution or preserve natural beauty. However, many of these laws are ineffective and others have had unintended consequences. In this updated edition, Richard Stroup explains how economics applies to environmental decisionmaking, why many of our environmental laws have failed us, and how we might go about doing a better job of protecting nature. Eco-nomics is an indispensable guide to learning how to think about both economics and the environment.

“Rick Stroup has done it again. In plain English, he’s applied common-sense economics to challenging environmental problems. This short primer is one that should be read, enjoyed, and saved for future reference.”

–Bruce Yandle, professor of economics emeritus, Clemson University

Richard L. Stroup is an emeritus economics professor at Montana State University and North Carolina State University. He is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and a senior fellow emeritus at Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) in Bozeman, Montana.