Libertarian and other IP advocates sometimes get miffed when you refer to a patent or copyright as a monopoly privilege granted by the state (see my post Are Patents “Monopolies”?). But some IP proponents are quite forthright about this. Take this explicit opening passage in an article by an ardent IP advocate, Jerome H. Reichman, a law professor at Duke:
Opponents of intellectual property often point out that modern patent and copyright are purely legislated, artificial schemes. For anarcho-libertarians and libertarians opposed to legislation as a means of forming law, this is yet another stake in the heart of IP. (See my post The Mountain of IP Legislation, and my article “Legislation and Law in a Free Society.”)
From article,
Kelli Space, 23, graduated from Northeastern University in 2009 with a bachelor’s in sociology — and a whopping $200,000 in student loan debt. Space, who lives with her parents and works full-time, put up a Web site called TwoHundredThou.com soliciting donations to help meet her debt obligation, which is $891 a month. That number jumps to $1,600 next November.
[This speech was delivered at the offices of the Mises Institute, September 14, 1999, the date on which Human Action was published 50 years ago. The Mises Institute published the pocket paperback edition in November 2010. ]
Robert Lawson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Finance at Auburn University. He is also a co-author of the widely-cited “Economic Freedom of the World” annual report which provides an economic freedom index for over 140 countries. He has publications in journals such as Public Choice, Cato Journal, Kyklos, Journal of Labor Research, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, and European Journal of Political Economy. He is also a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.
Last year I discussed Randy Barnett’s proposed constitutional amendment in Randy Barnett’s Proposed “Federalism Amendment” and Randy Barnett’s “Federalism Amendment”–A Counterproposal. The amendment would give a two thirds majority of the states the power to repeal any federal law or regulation.
Robert Higgs is a Senior Fellow in Political Economy at the Independent Institute and is the editor of Independent Review. He is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and is also a contributor to LewRockwell.com. Higgs has held teaching positions at University of Washington, Lafayette College, and Seattle University.
What is the current state of economic science? In two words, “not good.”
This is evident in the poor performance of the economics profession during the current financial crisis. Few economists saw it coming; once it started, its severity caught them by surprise; and now it is apparent that there is no agreement among them on how to end it.
To make this case, I will present some leading mainstream economists’ views on the crisis. This will be followed by my personal remarks.
