Mises Wire

Re: Patents and Utilitarian Thinking Redux: Stiglitz on using Prizes to Stimulate Innovation

Re: Patents and Utilitarian Thinking Redux: Stiglitz on using Prizes to Stimulate Innovation

In a previous post, I noted that Nobel-prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz had advocated replacing the patent system with a system for "awarding prizes"—presumably taxpayer funded—for innovations and inventions. In Scrooge and intellectual property rights, Stiglitz endorses a "medical prize fund" that "would give large rewards for cures or vaccines for diseases," which "prizes could be funded by governments in advanced industrial countries." Two cheers for capitalism! Or is that the other one?

All Rights Reserved ©
Support Liberty

The Mises Institute exists solely on voluntary contributions from readers like you. Support our students and faculty in their work for Austrian economics, freedom, and peace.

Donate today
Group photo of Mises staff and fellows