It is commonly supposed that, whatever its moral and theoretical standing, intellectual property is necessary for creators of written works to make a living and — even more importantly — to continue to create.
Routledge has just published a new book of mine with the title, Political Economy, Public Policy and Monetary Economics: Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian Tradition.
It is available from Amazon in Great Britain.
The Dubai tower, the tallest structure in the world, will be open on Monday amidst much concern and security. The tower actually set the record for the highest structure in the summer of 2007 sending a crisis signal for the skyscraper index. Since then Dubai has had to borrow $25 billion from its neighbors to keep the lights on.
TechDirt reports that car makers are using “intellectual property” as a way of forcing consumers to go to dealers for repairs. For independent companies to do repair, they say, violates their IP in their digital components.
Much confusion reigns over what the defenders of 100 percent reserves for banks would imply for the investment community. Free bankers argue that fractional reserves are necessary and beneficial for a healthy financial system. Credit (via fractional reserves) must be allowed lest the financial community find themselves with a dearth of capital.
The arguments in favor of 100 percent reserves for banks, when properly understood, lead to no capital shortage. The argument centers on loan and deposit contracts. There are three specific differences between the two.
GMU economist Peter Boettke
writes:
