All Music Is Derivative, Gloriously So
Entrepreneurs from around the world (including China) want to “steal” or imitate the clever doings of creative minds in the U.S because the U.S. is the most prosperous and creative nation in the world. Pundits view this as a threat, think we should empower the federal government to penalize the theft, but the much bigger worry would be if the creative found nothing worth emulating.
READ MOREDear Taylor Swift: The Trouble with Copyright Is Deeper Than You Know
Instead of worrying about the rights over her songs falling into the wrong hands, she should understand that unleashing her work from the tight grasp of IP’s claws would benefit her, as it would set her apart from other artists, and benefit all humankind, as others would be able to improve on what she’s done.
READ MOREAlmost Everything People Say about Big Business Is Wrong
For all its imperfections, American business does a pretty good job — a much better job, Cowen argues, than most people think, and I, for one, agree.
READ MOREGreed Is Good, but Not for the Greedy
The greed of the wealthy for showing off has led to a remarkably wealthy society, the most egalitarian culture the world has ever known.
READ MOREWhat Does “Voluntary” Actually Mean?
If you shut down sweatshops because you think people shouldn’t have to work in such bad conditions, are you really helping the poor folks who work there?
READ MOREIncredibly, that Overtime Regulation Is Back
The administration’s lack of principles opens wide the door for the Democrats in Congress not only to introduce an overtime bill that goes far beyond the Trump rule but also beyond even the Obama ceiling. And as expected, they just jump at the chance to do just that.
READ MOREElton John’s Soundtrack to Half a Century
It’s a rare artist who elicits the kind of widespread emotional homage that Elton John is receiving right now, hopefully, many years before his career is really over.
READ MOREThe Future of Public Goods
Non-excludability is really just a technological problem, because the ability to charge and withhold access is beyond our reach, at least at reasonable cost. But that’s changing, fast.
READ MOREThe Real Issue in Tech Antitrust: Where’s the Harm?
No matter one’s opinions on antitrust and big business, arguing that the big tech companies’ primary impact on our economy and lives has been anything but positive and even revolutionary is difficult.
READ MOREThe Market Is a Vast Network of Benevolence
Countless minds and countless hands have contributed to the slow march of civilization and helped to create a modern world (one fraught with problems, which I don’t minimize) in which I can perform innumerable operations closed off to previous generations without thinking about them.
READ MOREDesign Regulations Helped Ruin American Cars
Designers did not somehow lose imagination over the last 25 years. The designs of new cars are boring because regulations forced this result.
READ MOREEverything You Have Is Worthless
Whether you keep your stuff or not is up to you. But it is not up to you what price your stuff will elicit on the open marketplace.
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