Jason Soon over on the Catallaxy Files has a fascinating article about the idea of using native rights to over-fished waters as a means for achieving some free market environmentalism.
Libertarians have long claimed that there are alternatives to environmental regulation – one of the more obvious is giving property rights to what were previously unowned resources. Native title rulings seem to be a perfect opportunity (where a tradition of property ownership can be established) to put this worthy libertarian principle into practice while recognising ‘Aboriginal rights’ in a manner that promotes economic efficiency and justice and encourages entrepreneurship – and privatises more of Australia (alright so ownership will be vested in the tribe but how is that different from firms in Western society owning property? It’s part of their tradition, let them sort out the principal-agent problems).
Interesting idea. The whole article is well worth pondering.
