Trademark versus Copyright and Patent, or: Is All IP Evil?

I think we can all now agree that copyright and patent are evil and should be abolished (hey, if they can say we are all Keynsians now…).

But what about other forms of IP, such as trademark? One problem is that IP is not really property at all, and is just an umbrella term linking distinct, mostly artificial, positive rights created by the legislature out of thin air–”legally recognized rights arising from some type of intellectual creativity, or that are otherwise related to ideas.” (Against Intellectual Property, p. 9.)

Uncle Sam, Cousin Maynard, and the miracle seeds

When trying to explain complex economic situations, it sometimes best to abstract from money and look at a simple economy — a barter market. Assume that the only market for a society is its Saturday farmers market. Folks come from far and wide to exchange goods (that which they can produce efficiently for that which they cannot).

One day, Uncle Sam and Cousin Maynard come to town with their wagon of stuff. In it, they have miracle seeds, which they exchange for real goods. The locals are excited; Cousin Maynard says these miracle seeds will triple the harvest next year.

Why the Downturn?

I wrote Meltdown in order to give the free-market point of view the advantage of being one of the first, if not the first, of the inevitable avalanche of books on the crisis. (Paul Krugman, as well as the editors of The Nation, have published books of rehashed columns, but those don’t count.) I also wanted the free-market point of view to have the advantage of a book-length defense in the first place.

IP: It’s a market failure argument

In the hundreds of emails I’ve received over the issue of intellectual property, the number one most common objection to doing without goes like this. We can’t subject the matters to free market competition. Some innovations are too easy to copy. Just one look or listen and the producer’s idea is taken from. Then another company that had nothing to do with bearing the costs of innovation will be able to reap the rewards. We have to have a period of monopoly if only to inspire people to innovate and bring things to market.

The Right and Wrong of Money Production

Is government monopoly of money production ethical? We now have the definitive answer to the question. Moreover, writes Michael King, it is explained in a way they can easily understand and hopefully pass on: in the wonderful new book by Jörg Guido Hülsmann,The Ethics of Money Production. It would be difficult to overstate my appreciation for this book. Get it, read it, and then read it again!

Economic Fascism and the Bailout Economy

The whole structure of the national American political system has rested on the solvency of the largest American banks. These banks have all been called into question. They are now gutted. Do I see this as the end of freedom? No, I see it is the end of the fascist state. The monstrosity came close to going belly-up last October. It is on its last, tottering legs. It has lost the respect of the public.

Obama’s Wealth Destruction

President Obama is under the impression that history owes him $1 trillion right now to spend on whatever he wants. His language is strident and full of irritation that anyone would question his right to live out his personal dream of being Franklin Roosevelt to George Bush’s Hoover. This, he says, is what the election was all about.
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