: [snipped, because this sums of Loudon Head's argument:]: : Take a look at what's been happening in Iceland and New Zealand. Their fisheries were being depleted due to government mismanagement. They privatized the fisheries and BINGO, suddenly there's no fish shortage anymore.
(snipped)
: There is nothing inherently wrong with government regulation. In fact, regulation is often needed to protect the public and the environment from those who would plunder both for the sake of short-term profit.
That may be so, however, but the point is that the companies own the land or the forests or the lakes that they are extracting resources from. Mr. Loudon Head was arguing that when companies own the land and the resources they take better care of it. Yes, there will be some exceptions, such as companies that are fly by night operations hoping to capitalize quickly. However, those companies that are in it for the long run will make sure that they always plant more trees than they cut down so that there will be more next year. Similarly, fisheries will not dredge their fishing areas, completely wiping out the fish populations.
