Political economist and professor

Randy Simmons presents in this lesson the differences between markets and politics, which are parallel systems for achieving our goals. While in markets, individuals pursue their self-interests and goals, politics is the arena of collective action, where individuals choose with others and in some cases, for others. Simmons makes a comparison between the private and […]

If there was no water, there would be no life on earth; besides drinking it to survive, individuals have many other uses for this resource. Randy Simmons presents how water markets work in the United States as well as the conflicts associated with Government and the environment. Simmons shares the problem of not having a […]

What would you do if the right to use water was taken away from you? Randy Simmons presents the history of water property rights in the United States and relates it to the government, political issues and regulations. He starts sharing how people faced the problem of moving from one place to another and the […]

Randy Simmons hace una comparación entre mercado y política para poder entender la importancia de las decisiones públicas.  A su criterio, votantes y consumidores son la misma persona y actúan de igual manera en ambos lugares, aunque los incentivos son diferentes.  En el mercado privado, por ejemplo, se puede conseguir lo que se desea y el voto se hace por […]

There is a common misperception that business and environmental interests are incompatible, yet programs around the world have demonstrated that environmental quality improves with economic growth. In this conference, Randy T. Simmons describes free-market environmentalism and the benefits it can provide to communities, wildlife, and the natural environment. The basic principle behind this concept is […]

About this video Property rights are critical for a free society to work properly.  In this interview, Randy T. Simmons shares some facts about the property rights of water.  He talks about the essential issues they currently face and comments on how government intervention affects these types of rights.  Simmons finally mentions the relationship of scarcity and high demand of […]

In this conference, Randy T. Simmons discusses public choice, defined as the discipline that applies the tools of economics to the study of collective action.  In his dicussion, Simmons focuses on voters and consumers, comparing and contrasting their incentives.  He explains that voters have little or no incentive to cast their votes because they believe individuals have almost no chance […]