Being ignorant of New Zealand's local circumstances, I am uncertain what I can offer to another country on topics such as the law and economics of resource management. What I hope to bring is a general theory that applies independently of local concerns. There will be many transitional challenges unique to New Zealand, and there may be certain kinds of resources found here that are not duplicated anywhere else. But as I began my working life – I might add as a Roman lawyer – I was struck at how extraordinary it is, when dealing with subjects of trade and commerce, that the basic principles of contract law travel well across oceans, across generations and across cultures. I think that the same is true about natural resource law.