Michele Boldrin - Against Intellectual Monopoly

"Intellectual property" - patents and copyrights - has become controversial. We witness teenagers being sued for "pirating" music, and we observe AIDS patients in Africa dying because of their lack of ability to pay for drugs that are expensively priced by patent holders. Are patents and copyrights essential to thriving creation and innovation? Do we need them so that we all may enjoy fine music and good health? Across time and space the resounding answer is: No. So-called intellectual property is in fact an "intellectual monopoly" that hinders rather than helps the competitive free market regime that has delivered wealth and innovation to our doorsteps. This book broadly covers both copyrights and patents and is designed for a general audience, with its focus on everyday examples. The authors conclude that the only sensible policy to follow is to eliminate the patent and copyright systems as they currently exist.

Michele Boldrin is Joseph G. Hoyt Distinguished Professor of Economics in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society and a Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy Research (London) and at Fundacion de Estudios de Economia Aplicada (Madrid). He is an associate editor of Econometrica, an editor of Review of Economic Dynamics, and an advisory editor of Macroeconomic Dynamics, published by Cambridge University Press. His research interests include growth, innovation, and business cycles; intergenerational and demographic issues; public policy; institutions; and social norms. He is the coauthor or coeditor of four books and has published in leading journals such as American Economic Review, Econometrica, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Economic Theory, Review of Economic Dynamics, Journal of Monetary Economics, and Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control.

David K. Levine is John H. Biggs Distinguished Professor of Economics in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a coeditor of Econometrica and NAJ Economics, president of the Society for Economic Dynamics, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, and a research associate of the National Bureau for Economic Research. Author with Drew Fudenberg of Learning in Games and editor of several conference volumes, his research interests include the study of intellectual property and endogenous growth in dynamic general equilibrium models; the endogenous formation of preferences, institutions, and social norms; and the application of game theory to experimental economics. Levine has published in leading journals such as American Economic Review, Econometrica, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Economic Theory, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and American Political Science Review.

MICHELE BOLDRIN

Washington University in St. Louis

DAVID K. LEVINE

Washington University in St. Louis