Randy Simmons

Randy T. Simmons received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon in 1980. He is Professor of Political Economy and Director of the Institute of Political Economy in the department of economics and finance at Utah State University. Previously he was head of the department of political science at Utah State University. Simmons offers a unique view of the political economy having been trained in political economy and having spent ten years in city government, four of them as mayor.

Simmons is a Senior Fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center as well as the Independent Institute. His book, Beyond Politics: The Roots of Government Failure (2nd edition, 2012) is a primer on public choice theory and practice. His 2012 co-authored book Green vs. Green examines how local green activists use green ordinances to stop green energy development—a kind of green government failure. His co-edited book Aquanomics: Water Markets and the Environment (2011) shows how water markets are far superior to government water regulations and controls. His most recent book is Nature Unbound: Bureaucracy vs. the Environment (2016), an analysis of the politics of ecology and the ecology of politics.