Back in 1993, the Antiplanner wrote a report titled Pork Barrel and the Environment warning environmentalists that the federal government could not sustain its current expenditures through 2020. Those who cared about public lands such as national forests and national parks, the Antiplanner advised, should work to fund those land entirely out of user fees, else someone else would soon propose to simply sell them.
Now, economist Niall Ferguson, writing in Newsweek, makes the case for selling most public lands as well as other federal assets. Ferguson observes that most of the debate over federal finances focuses on either raising taxes or reducing spending. He suggests that selling federal assets represents a third option.
