Robert Nelson is professor at the School of Public Policy at University of Maryland, senior fellow at The Independent Institute, and senior scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He is author of The New Holy Wars: Economic Religion versus Environmental Religion in Contemporary America, Private Neighborhoods and the Transformation of Local Government, A Burning Issue: A Case for Abolishing the U.S. Forest Service and Public Lands and Private Rights: The Failure of Scientific Management. Nelson holds a PhD in economics from Princeton University.