Environmental Conservation

Drawing on his forthcoming book on environmental economics from an Austrian perspective, Timothy Terrell takes apart the standard case for environmental intervention. Following Roy Cordato and Rothbard, he argues the "best use" of a natural resource is not something a planner can determine—it's discovered through profit and loss—which leaves us unable to judge whether any given policy moves us toward or away from what people actually value. He then examines the two main attempts to price the environment without markets, contingent valuation and hedonics, and shows why both founder on subjective value and interpersonal utility comparisons. He closes with the history of federal land conservation, where Gifford Pinchot's Bureau of Forestry, the timber companies, and the land-grant railroads all found the same policy convenient.Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on July 22, 2026.Mises University is the world's leading instructional program in the Austrian School of economics, and is the essential training ground for economists who are looking beyond the mainstream.