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Fifteen Eighty Four

Academic perspectives from Cambridge University Press

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13
Aug
2008

Using A Mallet to Smash Shiny Myths

Full of whacking metaphors?! My favorite kind of review!

Marginal Revolution takes Against Intellectual Monopoly to task. In addition to all the whacking, poster Alex Tabarrok does my other favorite kind of review; one that really engages the authors and argues nuances with them.

“Against Intellectual Monopoly is a relentless, pounding, take no prisoners attack on patent and copyright law. It joins Lessig’s Free Culture and Heller’s The Gridlock Economy as an instant classic and a must-read on these issues.”

“Many people argue that the patent system has gone wrong in recent years, Boldrin and Levine argue that the patent system was rotten from the start. James Watt they say was a “scoundrel” who with his politically-connected partner Matthew Boulton used the patent system to crush their innovative opposition and delay the industrial revolution.

‘During the period of Watt’s patents, the United Kingdom added about 750 horsepower of steam engines per year. In the thirty years following Watt’s patents, additional horsepower was added at a rate of more than 4,000 per year. Moreover, the fuel efficiency of steam engines changed little during the period of Watt’s patent; however between 1810 and 1835 it is estimated to have increased by a factor of five.’

“Will books be published without copyright? Boldrin and Levine point out that the 9-11 Commission Report was profitably published by Norton despite being available free for download. Not to mention the fact that most of the great works of literature were published without copyright. Boldrin and Levine are top-notch theorists but AIM is widely accessible and it succeeds best with its many historical discussions and contemporary anecdotes.”

Read the rest of the review on Marginal Revolution >>

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