He received his bachelor's degree in economics from Francis Marion College and his master's and Ph.D. degrees from Clemson University. Lipford wrote this essay while he served as a visiting scholar with PERC. A previous paper, "Jocassee Gorges - Private Vice or Public Virtue?" by Lipford, Jerry Slice, and Bruce Yandle was published by PERC in 2002 as a research study. Source: Property & Environment Research Center website, 3/2004.