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An economist and lawyer, Roger Meiners defends the superiority of the common law--legal traditions developed through the courts--over federal regulation. In his view, the success of markets is intertwined with the common laws strong protection for property rights. Common law protects the environment by allowing individuals to take action against trespass and nuisance affecting the enjoyment of their properties. It empowers individuals and decentralizes decisions. In contrast, centralized regulations concentrate power and tend to apply a one-size-fits-all solution to a multitude of problems.
In Meiners view, ignorance of the political process leads many economists to propose unrealistic government policies to correct market behavior. One example is pollution taxes. Although the theoretical concept is sound, in practice these programs are ignored by policy makers or, if adopted, are distorted. The government is not an abstract entity, Meiners emphasizes. Politicians tend to work on their own behalf, and are more sensitive to interest-group pressures than to the general public interest. They prefer federal regulations to market solutions because regulations lead to greater dependence on politicians.
Meiners has published a number of articles and books that address the role of traditional property rights in resolving environmental issues. His PERC Policy Series PS-27, "Restoring Harmony in the Klamath Basin," shows how political control over water has produced endless costly conflict. He and PERC Fellow Andrew Morriss have written several papers on the mining industry, including a paper published in Environmental Law in 2005. Previously, Meiners and Morriss looked at the role of common law in protecting people from harm from pesticides. They argue that, as in other areas, once politics takes control, the results are economically and environmentally destructive.
Recently he worked with Senior Research Fellow Dominic Parker on the issue of land trusts used to protect private property. Together they edited a volume of the Natural Resources Journal that was dedicated to papers from a PERC Forum. Meiners is the principal author of the textbook, Legal Environment of Business, which is going into its 9th edition.
He received his law degree from the University of Miami and his Ph.D. in economics from Virginia Tech, where he was strongly influenced by public choice economists James Buchanan, Gordon Tullock, and Richard Wagner. He is currently Goolsby Distinguished Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Texas at Arlington. He was previously on the faculty at Clemson University, Emory University, and Texas A&M University. He has also served as the director of the Federal Trade Commission office in Atlanta.
Although soft spoken, Roger is known to his friends for his sharp comments and sense of humor. He lives with his wife Cary, a high school math teacher, and four children in Arlington, Texas, where in his free time he tries to solve the eternal problem of how you push or lead your children in the right direction. Policy Series 7 myths about green jobs (No. 44)
(May 2009) Restoring Harmony in the Klamath Basin (No. 27)
(December 2002) Pesticides and Property Rights (No. 22)
(May 2001) The Common Law: How it Protects the Environment (full)
(May 1998) Books Political Economy Forum Series — Books Agricultural Policy and the Environment
(January 2003) Government vs. Environment
(May 2002) The Common Law and the Environment: Rethinking the Statutory Basis for Modern Environmental Law
(March 2000) Who Owns the Environment?
(January 1998) Taking the Environment Seriously
(January 1993) Features — PERC Reports Green Jobs: Boom or Bust?
(June 2009) DDT: An Issue of Property Rights
(September 2001) The Legacy of the DDT Ban
DDT's Legacy: Malaria's Return
(June 2001) Common-Law Protection
Curbing Pollution-Case-By-Case
(June 1998) On the Lookout — PERC Reports This Land is My Land, Your Land is My Land...
(December 2008) Current Research Meiners and PERC Senior Fellow Andrew Morriss are examining legal constraints on the mining industry and the economic justifications for demands that the industry be subjected to even tighter regulatory controls. They find that the Mining Law of 1872 is, contrary to its many critics, sensible legislation that creates good incentives.
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