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60 65 67 71 74 77 80 86 89 91 93 96 98 Center 69 83 109 58 111 THEFREEMAN IDEAS ON LIBERTY FEATURES Property Rights and Law Among the Ancient Greeks by Gregory R Rehmke Another enormous contribution to Western civilization. Property Rights in the Family-and Beyond by David R. Henderson Creating harmony out of sibling chaos. Law, Custom, and the Commons by Randy T. Simmons Why the "tragedy of the commons" is not inevitable. Property Rights Among Native Americans by Terry L. Anderson Correcting some misunderstandings. How Fishing Communities Protect Their Future by Donald R. Leal Avoiding overfishing through customs and traditions. How Property Rights Can Spur Artificial Reefs by Michael De Alessi Fish are abundant along Alabama's coast. An Environment Without Property Rights by Richard L. Stroup and Jane S. Shaw Why the Eastern bloc under communism was smoky, dirty, and polluted. It Takes a Market by Bettina Bien Greaves Producers must consider the wishes of consumers.

The True Takings Reform Imperative by Donald J. Kochan Why "takings" legislation isn't enough. Economic Freedom: Its Measurement and Importance by James D. Gwartney Where do people have the most freedom to own property and to trade? Today's War on Property by R. W Bradford The war on drugs is destroying traditional freedoms. Privatize Public Highways by Michelle S. Cadin and Walter Block A way to improve safety and reduce congestion. Frederick Douglass-Heroic Orator for Liberty by Jim Powell Born into slavery, Frederick Douglass advocated freedom for all. COLUMNS NOTES from FEE-European Malaise by Hans R Sennholz IDEAS and CONSEQUENCES-Homeschool Heroes by Lawrence W Reed POTOMAC PRINCIPLES-The Failure of Politics by Doug Bandow ECONOMICS on TRIAL-Which Is the Best Inflation Indicator: Gold, Oil, or the Commodity Spot Index? by Mark Skousen DEPARTMENTS Perspective-Jane S. Shaw, Richard L. Stroup, Murray N. Rothbard Book Reviews •Hidden Order: The Economics ofEveryday Life by David Friedman, reviewed by Douglas E. French; Government: Servant or Master? edited by Gerard Radnitzky and Hardy Bouillon, reviewed by David L. Prychitko; Austrian Economics: An Anthology edited by Bettina Bien Greaves, reviewed by Robert Batemarco; The Heroic Enterprise: Business and the Common Good by John M. Hood, reviewed by William H. Peterson; Generation X Goes to College: An Eye-Opening Account of Teaching in Postmodern America, by Peter Sacks, reviewed by StevenYates;Faith & Credit: The World Bank's Secular Empire by Susan George and Fabrizio Sabelli, reviewed by Ken S. Ewert; Oil, Gas, & Government by Robert L. Bradley, Jr., reviewed by Richard W Fulmer; A Moment on the Earth: The Coming Age ofEnvironmental Optimism by Gregg Easterbrook, reviewed by Doug Bandow; The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age ofEntitlement by Robert 1. Samuelson, reviewed by Thomas 1. DiLorenzo; Travels with a Hungry Bear: A Journey to the Russian Heartland by Mark Kramer, reviewed by E. C. Pasour, Jr.

THEFREEMAN IDEAS ON LIBERTY Published by The Foundation for Economic Education Irvington-on-Hudson, NY 10533 Phone (914) 591-7230 FAX (914) 591-8910 E-mail: freeman@westnet.com President: Hans F. Sennholz Managing Editor: Beth A. Hoffman Guest Editor: Jane S. Shaw Editor Emeritus Paul L. Poirot Lewisburg, Pennsylvania Editorial Assistant Mary Ann Murphy Columnists Doug Bandow Cato Institute, Washington, D.C. Lawrence W. Reed Mackinac Center for Public Policy Midland, Michigan Mark Skousen Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida Contributing Editors Charles W. Baird California State University, Hayward Peter J. Boettke New York University Clarence B. Carson American Textbook Committee Wadley, Alabama Thomas J. DiLorenzo Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland Joseph S. Fulda New York, New York Bettina Bien Greaves Resident Scholar, FEE John Hospers University of Southern California Tibor R. Machan Auburn University Ronald Nash Reformed Theological Seminary Edmund A. Opitz Chatham, Massachusetts James L. Payne Sandpoint, Idaho Jim Powell Westport, Connecticut William H. Peterson Adjunct Scholar, HeritageFoundation, Washington, D.C.

Jane S. Shaw PERC, Bozeman, Montana Richard H. Timberlake University of Georgia The Freeman is the monthly publication of The Foundation for Economic Education, Inc., Irvington-on-Hudson, NY 10533. FEE, established in 1946 by Leonard E. Read, is a nonpolitical, educational champion of private property, the free market, and limited government. FEE is classified as a 26 USC 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Copyright © 1997 by The Foundation for Economic Education. Permission is granted to reprint any article in this issue, except "Property Rights and Human Rights" and "Frederick Douglass," provided credit is given and two copies of the reprinted material are sent to FEE. The costs of Foundation projects and services are met through dona tions, which are invited in any amount. Donors of $30.00or more receive a subscription to The Freeman. Student subscriptions are $10.00 for the nine-month academic year; $5.00 per semester. Additional copies of this issue of The Freeman are $3.00 each. For foreign delivery, a donation of $45.00 a year is suggested to cover mailing costs.

Bound volumes of The Freeman are available from The Foundation for calendar years 1972 to date. The Freeman is available in microform from University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. PERSPECTIVE Understanding Property Rights This issue of The Freeman focuses on property rights, but not in a heavy, theoretical way. Think of it as a potpourri of information on the subject. You'll have a chance to read about how property rights quiet squabbling children, how property rights preserved natural re sources for Native Americans, and how prop erty rights are routinely violated by govern ments, American and foreign. As Thomas Sowell points out in Knowledge and Decisions, both socialist and free-market countries have property rights. The difference is that in socialist countries the government owns and assigns them. In free-market or capitalist countries, individuals have them and-what is especially important-can transfer them voluntarily through mutual agreement.

My goal is to help us recognize that these private property rights are the foundation of a cooperative society (a point that modern "communitarians" have yet to discover). But I also want readers to understand that pri vate property rights aren't always formally described in legal documents. They can be "understood" rather than spelled out, as property rights are in community-run fish ing territories. Ownership can be shared by families or clans, rather than individuals alone. Property rights can change over time. F.A. Hayek described property rights as "a modi fiable and very complex bundle whose most effective combinations have not yet been discovered in all areas." Sometimes it's diffi cult to have full private property rights, even though we have them nominally. As Richard Stroup notes below, even though we have rights against pollution of ourselves or our property, these rights may be difficult to defend.

There's much to be said about private property rights. I hope that these stories will enhance your understanding of what they achieve for our society and why they should be respected. -JANE S. SHAW, Guest Editor 58 "3-D" Property Rights Property rights must be: (1) defined clearly so as to reside with a specific person or entity; (2) defended easily against non-owners who might wish to use or "steal" the asset; and (3) divestible, or transferable, by the owner to others on whatever terms are mutually satis factory to buyer and seller. When property has these "3-D" character istics, and when trades can be transacted easily, the owner of any asset has the incentive and the authority to use that asset in such a way as to maximize its value to society. The property rights system, like all other human institutions, is imperfect. Sometimes assets and resources are not controlled by property rights complete in all three dimen sions. Property rights can be poorly defined, they can be difficult to enforce, or they may not be transferable.

It may be difficult to defend one's property right to clean ground water, for example. In order to protect such rights, a plaintiff before a court of law needs good information, and good information is not free. Without reliable information on which to base a damage suit, courts are unable to defend property rights effectively against in vasion or takings. The polluter is allowed to harm the property of another, without that person's consent. This problem has been used to justify a great deal of government intervention in the pollution area. Yet it is critical to realize that the same information problem hampers any policy intended to deal with hazardous waste [or other pollution]. Government agencies have no better access than the courts to reliable information about the source and effect of pollutants, which is inherently elu sive. Without this information, it is impos sible to decide rationally how much control is justified. Since expending resources or stifling productive activity reduces society's wealth, such controls should not be taken lightly.

-RICHARD L. STROUP (Adapted from "Hazardous Waste Policy: A Property Rights Perspective," in Environment Reporter, September 22, 1989.) 59 PERSPECTIVE Property Rights and Human Rights Some critics of the free market argue that property rights are in conflict with "human" rights. But the critics fail to realize that in a free-market system, every person has a prop erty right over his own person and his own labor, and that he can make free contracts for those services. Slavery violates the basic prop erty right of the slave over his own body and person, a right that is the groundwork for any person's property rights over nonhuman material objects. What's more, all rights are human rights, whether it is everyone's right to free speech or one individual's property rights in his own home. A common charge against the free-market society is that it institutes "the law of the jungle," of "dog eat dog," that it spurns human cooperation for competition, and that it exalts material success as opposed to spir itual values, philosophy, or leisure activities.

On the contrary, the jungle is precisely a society of coercion, theft, and parasitism, a society that demolishes lives and living stan dards. The peaceful market competition of producers and suppliers is a profoundly co operative process in which everyone benefits, and where everyone's living standard flour ishes (compared to what it would be in an unfree society). And the undoubted material success of free societies provides the general affluence that permits us to enjoy an enor mous amount of leisure as compared to other societies, and to pursue matters of the spirit. It is the coercive countries with little or no market activity, notably under communism, where the grind of daily existence not only impoverishes people materially, but deadens their spirit. -MURRAY N. ROTHBARD (From the "Free Market" entry in The For tune Encyclopedia ofEconomics, ed. by David R. Henderson [New York: Warner Books, Inc., 1993], pp. 638-639.) THEFREEMAN IDEAS ON LIBERTY PropertyRights and Law Among the AncientGreeks by Gregory F. Rehmke G reek art, architecture, literature, philos ophy, and politics clearly mark the be ginning of Western civilization. But the Greek contribution to the Western world runs far deeper than its intellectual and artistic ac complishments, its stunning architecture, and its masterful works of philosophy and litera ture. Greek customs and institutions provided protection to private property unique in the ancient world, and by instilling a strong sense of equality before the law, laid the founda tions for Western democracy and the rule of law.