Notes
Notes to Pages x–17
Preface
x Biologist Garrett Hardin: Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” Science, 1968, 162, 1243–1248. See www.sciencemag.org/sciext/sotp/commons.dtl.
xii envisioned an economy: E. F. Schumacher, Small Is Beautiful (New York: HarperCollins, 1973).
Chapter 1: Time to Upgrade
4 endangering human civilizations: Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (New York: Penguin Books, 2005); Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004).
7 “The relational herdsman …”: Hardin, “Tragedy of the Commons,” p. 1244. Twenty-five years after this article was published, Hardin explained that what he should have said in 1968 was: “A ‘managed commons’ describes either socialism or the privatism of free enterprise. Either one may work; either one may fail: ‘The devil is in the details.’ But with an unmanaged commons, you can forget about the devil: As overuse of resources reduces carrying capacity, ruin is inevitable” (Science, May 1, 1998, p. 683). I don’t find this “clarification” enlightening. If an “unmanaged commons” is inevitably self-destructive, and a “managed commons” is, by definition, either socialism or privatism, we are still left with only three alternatives: tragedy, statism, or privatism. In this book I describe a fourth alternative: trusteeship. See www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/280/5364/682.
9 feedback loops: For some reason, scientists call virtuous feedback loops negative and vicious ones positive. I’ll stick with the more intuitive adjectives.
9 James Watt’s design: Here’s how Watt’s governor works. As the engine speeds up, a spindle spins faster and centrifugal force lifts two flyballs on hinged arms. This movement decreases the size of the air inlet valve, slowing the engine. Modern equivalents include thermostats on heaters, shutoff valves on toilets, and cruise control on cars.
10 the Once-ler replies: Theodor Seuss Geisel, The Lorax (New York: Random House, 1971).
Chapter 2: A Short History of Capitalism
16 “For this labor …”: John Locke, Second Treatise of Government (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1980 [originally published 1690]), chapter 5, section 27.
17 Privatization, the great transformation: Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston: Beacon Press, 1960 [originally published 1944]).
17 “[Pay] to every person”: Thomas Paine, Agrarian Justice (http://geolib.pair.com/essays/paine.tom/agjst.html [originally published 1797]), sections i04, i05, 22 and 23.
19 “It makes no sense …”: Bob Dole’s statement on the spectrum giveaway can be found at www.anu.edu.au/mail-archives/link/link9601/0035.html. See also Ralph Kinney Bennett, “The Great Airwaves Giveaway,” Reader’s Digest, June 1996.
19 “If you steal $10 …”: Walter Hickel, Crisis in the Commons: The Alaska Solution (Oakland, Calif.: ICS Press, 2002), p. 217.
20 a handful of corporations: Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (London: Penguin Books, 1982 [originally published 1776]).
21 corporations were persons”: The Supreme Court decision that established corporate personhood was Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, 118 U.S. 394 (1886).
22 Fortune 500 sales: I computed the annual sales of Fortune 500 corporations from data available (for a fee) on Fortune magazine’s website. See http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500_archive/full/1955/index.htm.
23 “So great has been the change …”: John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1958), p. 2.
24 scarce factor is trees: See www.worldchanging.com/archives/004143.html.
25 capitalism’s stages: I’m pleased to note that ecological economist Herman Daly has a two-stage schema similar to mine. Daly’s focus is on the world in which the human economy resides. His dividing line is between an “empty world” and a “full world.” In the former, nature is abundant; in the latter, it’s scarce.
25 consequences of ecosystem overuse: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Synthesis Report (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2005), p. 1.
26 U.S. ecosystem damage figures: Total CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use and cement production since 1451 equal 290 billion tons (http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/tre_glob.htm).
U.S. historical emissions have been 84 billion tons since 1800 (http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/trends/emissions/usa.dat). Thus, the proportion attributable to U.S. use is 29 percent.
28 welfare keeps the poor poor: Charles Murray, Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950–1980 (New York: Basic Books, 1984).
28 how corporations finance growth: Marjorie Kelly, The Divine Right of Capital (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2001), p. 33.
29 marketable wealth gain in U.S. between 1983 and 1998: Edward N. Wolff, “The Rich Get Richer,” American Prospect, Feb. 12, 2001. www.prospect.org/print/V12/3/wolff-e.html.
29 General Social Survey: Richard Layard, “Happiness: Has Social Science a Clue?” Lionel Robbins Memorial Lecture, Mar. 3–5, 2003, London School of Economics. http://cep.lse.ac.uk/events/lectures/layard/RL030303.pdf.
30 marketing messages: Michael Brower and Warren Leon, The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999). www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/ucs/CG-Chapter-1.pdf.
Chapter 3: The Limits of Government
33 statism and privatism: Hardin, “Tragedy of the Commons.”
35 regulatory capture: Richard Posner, “Theories of Economic Regulation,” Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science, Autumn 1974; George Stigler, “The Theory of Economic Regulation,” Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science, Spring 1971; Gabriel Kolko, The Triumph of Conservatism (New York: Free Press, 1963); Mancur Olson, The Logic of Collective Action (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press), 1965.
36 U.S. governement officials: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy (New York: HarperCollins, 2004), p. 32.
36 “influence industry”: Alex Knott, Special Report: Industry of Influence Nets More Than $10 Billion (Washington, D.C.: Center for Public Integrity, 2005). www.publicintegrity.org/lobby/report.aspx?aid=675.
36 MBNA lobbying: Courtney Mabeus, “Big Donors Go for Broke with Bankruptcy Bill,” Bankruptcy Reform News, Mar. 4, 2005. www.bankruptcyfinder.com/article%20folder/bigdonors2005.html.
36 lobbyists’ behavior: Philip Shenon, “Lobbying Campaign Led by Credit Card Companies and Banks Nears Bankruptcy Bill Goal,” New York Times, Mar. 13, 2001.
37 pharmaceutical lobbying: Jim Drinkard, “Drugmakers Go Furthest to Sway Congress,” USA Today, Apr. 26, 2005.
37 broadcasting lobbying: Kevin Phillips, Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich (New York: Broadway Books, 2002), p. 326.
39 using taxes to promote nature: Arthur C. Pigou, The Economics of Welfare (London: Macmillan, 1920).
40 Federal Reserve Board: See www.federalreserve.gov/bios/default.htm.
44 “has been hiding the ball …”: Sally Fairfax, Lessons for the Forest Service from the State Trust Land Management Experience (Washington, D.C.: Resources for the Future, 1999), Discussion Paper 99–16, pp. 22–23. www.rff.org/Documents/RFF-DP-99-16.pdf.
45 Alaska couldn’t discriminate: Zobel v. Williams, 457 U.S. 55, 1982.
46 Economist Vernon Smith: Sean Butler, “Life, Liberty, and a Little Bit of Cash,” Dissent, Summer 2005. www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=211.
Chapter 4: The Limits of Privatization
52 “… a license to obfuscate.”: Clive Cook, “The Good Company,” The Economist, Jan. 20, 2005.
53 Hurwitz: Ned Daly, “Ravaging the Redwoods: Charles Hurwitz, Michael Milken, and the Costs of Greed,” Multinational Monitor, Sept. 1994. www.multinationalmonitor.org/hyper/issues/1994/09/mm0994_07.html. See also David Harris, The Last Stand: The War Between Wall Street and Main Street Over California’s Ancient Redwoods (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1997).
54 Working Assets: Report on Socially Responsible Investing Trends in the United States (Washington, D.C.: Social Investment Forum, 2005). www.socialinvest.org/areas/research/trends/sri_trends_report_2005.pdf.
55 Fortune 500 companies socially responsible? Paul Hawken, “Is Your Money Where Your Heart Is? The Truth About SRI Mutual Funds,” Common Ground, Oct. 2004, p. 14. www.responsibleinvesting.org/database/dokuman/SRI_10-04_DragonflyMed.pdf.
55 shareholder file resolutions: Report on Socially Responsible Investing Trends.
58 origins of free market environmentalism: Ronald Coase, “The Problem of Social Cost,” Journal of Law and Economics, Oct. 1960, pp. 1–44. www.sfu.ca/~allen/CoaseJLE1960.pdf.
59 polluters trespassing on common property: Kennedy, Crimes Against Nature, p. 190.
Chapter 5: Reinventing the Commons
66 private wealth: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2006 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006), Table 703. www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/06statab/income.pdf.
70 ecosystem services: Robert Costanza and Paul Sutton, “Global Estimates of Market and Non-Market Values Derived from Nighttime Satellite Imagery, Land Cover, and Ecosystem Service Valuation,” Ecological Economics, June 2002, pp. 509–527. www.uvm.edu/giee/research/publications/Sutton_and_Costanza.pdf.
71 Internet income: Measuring the Internet Economy (Austin: Cisco Systems and the University of Texas, Jan. 2001). www.momentumresearchgroup.com/downloads/reports/internet-indicators-2001.pdf.
71 Internet not-for-profit income: Arts and Economic Prosperity: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts Organizations and Their Audiences (Washington, D.C.: Americans for the Arts, 2002). http://pubs.artsusa.org./library/ARTS095/html.
74 “enough and as good”: Locke, Second Treatise.
Chapter 6: Trusteeship of Creation
79 “God gave the care of his earth …”: from An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility, 2004.
80 “At an intersection …”: California Drivers Handbook (Sacramento: California Department of Motor Vehicles, 2006), p. 16. www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/dl600.pdf.
80 capital trumps everything: Kelly, Divine Right of Capital.
81 societieis choose top right holders: To extend the driving analogy: in the twentieth century, thirty countries changed the side of the road they drive on (almost all switched from left to right.) Like choosing dominant property rights, choosing which side to drive on is a social choice, and society can change its mind.
82 farmers vs. endangered fish: Juliet Eilperin, “Water Rights Case Threatens Species Protection,” Washington Post, Dec. 7, 2004, p. A18. www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A41450-2004Dec6?language=printer.
83 Trebah Garden Trust: For more information on Trebah Gardens, see www.trebahgarden.co.uk.
83 Trusts: Duties of trustees are described at www.trustland.org/about/responsibilities.cfm.
83 Trustee duties: Cardozo’s statement on the fiduciary duty of trustees was made while sitting on the New York Court of Appeals in the case of Meinhard v. Salmon, 249 N.Y. 458 (1928).
84 world-wide trusts: For information on Britain’s National Trust, see www.nationaltrust.org.uk. For information on the Nature Conservancy, see www.nature.org. For data about other land trusts in the United States, see the Land Trust Alliance’s 2003 National Land Trust Census at www.lta.org/census/.
87 carbon dioxide use: Peter Barnes, Who Owns the Sky? Our Common Assets and the Future of Capitalism (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2001).
90 farmer vs. cattle-raiser:: Coase, “The Problem of Social Cost,” p. 2.
94 American economist: Henry George, Progress and Poverty (New York: Cosimo Classics, 2005 [originally published 1880]).
96 common goods vs. public goods: I must confess that, much as I like public goods, I don’t like the idea of funding them with commons rent. I think commons rent should be distributed to owners, just as corporate income is, and that all personal income, regardless of source, should then be taxed at progressive rates to pay for public goods. Diverting commons rent to public goods is a hidden tax on the poor and an additional gift to the rich.
99 Voters can “fire” elected officials”: See especially Federalist Paper #10, “The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection,” New York Packet, Nov. 23, 1787. This paper discusses the danger of factions and how the Constitution is designed to mitigate it through checks and balances. www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/fed10.htm.
Chapter 7: Universal Birthrights
103 “The aim is not to guarantee …”: George Will, “Field of Dollars,” Washington Post, Feb. 28, 1999, p. B7.
105 redistribution vs. predistribution: John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971).
106 Less pollution = more revenue: At this moment, the federal government and several states are giving corporate polluters free rights to use the atmosphere. It may seem shocking that politicians would create new property rights from a shared inheritance and give these valuable assets to a few corporations, yet that’s what they’re doing.
108 “[T]he estates …”: For text of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, see www.historicaldocuments.com/NorthwestOrdinance.htm. The quote is from section 2.
109 interest earned by trust funds: For information about Britain’s “baby bonds,” see “Saving from Birth: Baby Bonds Are a Great Radical Idea,” The Guardian, Apr. 11, 2003. http://society.guardian.co.uk/publicfinances/comment/0,,934537,00.html. See also Stuart White (ed.), The Citizen’s Stake: Exploring the Future of Universal Asset Policies (Bristol, U.K.: Policy Press, 2006).
112 weathy’s debt: Bill Gates Sr.’s quote is taken from a forum at the Urban Institute on Jan. 14, 2003, and can be found at http://taxpolicycenter.org/publications/template.cfm?PubID=8248.
114 per capital expenditures: Stephen Heffler, Sheila Smith, Sean Keehan, Christine Borger, M. Kent Clemens and Christopher Truffer, “U.S. Health Spending Projections for 2004–2014,” Health Affairs, Feb. 23, 2005.
114 percent spent on administration: Steffie Woolhandler, Terry Campbell, and David Himmelstein, “Costs of Health Care Administration in the U.S. and Canada,” New England Journal of Medicine, Aug. 21, 2003.
114 life expectancy: CIA World Factbook, 2006, www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/.
116 U.S. health insurance: For information on obesity, diabetes, and depression see www.newstarget.com. For data on health insurance coverage in the United States, see Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau, Aug. 2004), p. 14. www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p60-226.pdf. For information about health care costs in the United States, see Paul Krugman, “The Medical Money Pit,” New York Times, Apr. 15, 2005, op ed page.
Chapter 8: Sharing Culture
118 public domain: On the Statute of Queen Anne, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Anne. For more information on the public domain see the website of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke Law School, www.law.duke.edu/cspd/index.html.
119 public domain: Paul Starr, The Creation of the Media (New York: Basic Books), p. 118.
122 “Our mental environment …”: Kalle Lasn, Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America (New York: William Morrow, 1999), p. 13.
122 “feel constantly bombarded …”: Stuart Elliott, “New Survey on Ad Effectiveness,” New York Times, Apr. 14, 2004. www.nytimes.com/2004/04/14/business/media/14adco.html?ex=1146110400&en=89e6a892cb8b31c8&ei=5070. For more advertising data, see www1.medialiteracy.com/stats_advertising.jsp#perceptions.
123 TV advertising: Gary Levin, “Ad Glut Turns Off Viewers,” USA Today, Oct. 12, 2005. www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20051012/d_cover12.art.htm.
125 privatizing the airwaves: For Lowell Paxson’s quote, see www.tvtechnology.com/features/Bigpicture/f-FB-DTV.shtml.
128 “As we enjoy great advantages …”: For Benjamin Franklin’s quote, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_stove.
129 drug costs to consumers: Dean Baker, “The Reform of Intellectual Property,” Post-Autistic Economics Review, July 2005. www.paecon.net/PAEReview/issue32/Baker32.htm.
Chapter 9: Building the Commons Sector
136 land trusts: See www.dsni.org/ for more on the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative.
137 surface water rights: See www.owt.org/ for more information on the Oregon Water Trust.
139 Portland public spaces: For more information about Portland’s street intersections, see http://cityrepair.org/about.html.
139 Brooklyn time bank: For more information on ElderPlan in Brooklyn and “time dollars” generally, see www.timedollar.org/.
140 atmosphere is common property: See www.rggi.org/. Go to www.rggi.org/docs/mcc_auctions_letter.pdf for Marc Breslow’s quote.
140 state emission changes: Information about the Vermont law, the Massachusetts bill, and Spitzer’s statement can be found at www.massclimateaction.org/RGGI/RGGI.htm.
141 The problem is hypoxia: For information about the Mississippi Basin and hypoxia, see www.epa.gov/msbasin/.
142 Buffalo Commons: Frank and Deborah Popper, “The Great Plains: From Dust to Dust,” Planning, Dec. 1987. www.planning.org/25anniversary/planning/1987dec.htm.
145 market value of airwave licenses: For an estimate of the value of public spectrum given free to broadcasters, download the New America Foundation’s Citizen’s Guide to the Airwaves at www.newamerica.net/index.cfm?sec=programs&pg=spectrum_direct&bg=blk&continue=yes&X_TRANTYPE=download.
149 contract and converge: For information on contract and converge, see the website of the London-based Global Commons Institute at www.gci.org.uk/main.html.
150 a global atmosphere trust: The 1919 Treaty of Versailles, drawn up at the close of World War I, carved up the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, set up the League of Nations, and imposed stiff reparations on Germany. Some believe it paved the way to World War II.
Chapter 10: What You Can Do
159 “I wanted to see the Web proliferate …”: Tim Berners-Lee, Weaving the Web (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1999), p. 84.
164 Alaska Permanent Fund: In 1999, Alaska’s budget was in the red, and rather than raise taxes or cut expenditures, legislators tried to raid the Permanent Fund. After, however, voters in a referendum rejected their plan by 84 to 16 percent, the politicians gave up. “Voters Say Loud, Clear ‘No,’” Anchorage Daily News, Sept. 15, 1999, p. A1.