Massachusetts Institute of Technology: the Economics of Ideas and the Public Domain Economics

Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
the Economics of Ideas and the Public Domain Economics

Nipawin - April 9, 2001 - by: Mario deSantis

monopolies
Patents and copyrights are not ideas, they are monopolies granted to

businesses for the commercialization of original ideas. We have

experienced how, under the current contractual globalization framework,

Monsanto's intellectual patent right on its genetically modified canola seeds

supersedes the private right of a farmer to labour on his/her own land⁽¹⁾.

marginal cost
These monopolies allow multinational corporations to price their goods

and services many times the marginal cost for their production, and for

goods and services which can be digitized these prices can be a thousand

times their marginal cost. This is why Paul Romer⁽²⁾, Dean Baker⁽³⁾, Michael

Kremer⁽⁴⁾, Brian MacLean⁽⁵⁾ and many other intelligent economists support,

in principle, the governmental funding of research.

public domain
Paul Romer goes as far as to envision a 'public domain economics⁽⁶⁾' where

nonrival goods (goods which can be used by everyone at the same time

such as software or any accessible information on the Internet) would be

available free to anybody who wants.

political leaders
The Economics of Ideas⁽⁷⁾⁽⁸⁾ and the Public Domain Economics are very far

away from the brains of our current political leaders as US President

George W. Bush reneges the Kyoto's environmental agreement and looks for

increasing petroleum and nuclear resources, and as our Prime Minister

Jean Chretien sells the idea to have Canada's natural resources fuel the

United States engine.

Open Course Ware
But there is hope, and the fair globalization of ideas is happening! In fact,

MIT President Charles M. Vest has announced that the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology will make the materials for nearly all its courses

freely available on the Internet over the next ten years⁽⁹⁾. This project is

known as the MIT OpenCourseWare (MITOCW). At the press conference

held last April 4^th, President Vest has stated that

widening access

"OpenCourseWare looks counter-intuitive in a market driven world. It goes against the grain of current material values. But it really is consistent with what I believe is the best about MIT. It is innovative. It expresses our belief in the way education can be advanced -- by constantly widening access to information and by inspiring others to participate."

All MIT staff support this innovative initiative, and Professor John Lienhard

has commented

knowledge

"Why do I support OpenCourseWare? Last year, I posted my undergraduate heat transfer textbook on the web for no-charge distribution. It is a 700 page pdf file, fully hyperlinked, and also properly typeset. In the domestic book market, the cost for this book would be $85 for the hardback or $45 for the paperback. My aim, however, is to provide the knowledge to those who can't afford to buy the book. The book has been downloaded by users from around the globe."

Economics of Ideas
We have lots of business speculators, and we have lots of bubbles in the

financial and stock market. But in the middle of today's economic confusion

created by our conventional leadership, we are definitely moving towards

the Economics of Ideas and the Public Domain Economics.

------------References/endnotes:

List of relevant political and economics articles http://ensign.ftlcomm.com

1.
Globalizing our economies and manufacturing our justice, by Mario deSantis, March 31, 2001

2
Paul Romer, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University http://www.stanford.edu/~promer/

3.
-
Dean Baker, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research http://www.cepr.net/dbbio.htm

4.
Michael Kremer, Harvard University http://post.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/kremer/

5.
MacLean's Economic Policy Page, by Brian K. MacLean, http://www.geocities.com/brian79/

6.
-
The "Growth Illusion" vs. "New Growth Theory", Keith Rankin, 8 February 1998 http://www.ak.planet.gen.nz/~keithr/rf98_P_Romer.html

7.
-
-
INNOVATION, INCREASING COMPLEXITY AND THE NEED FOR A NEW PARADIGM IN ECONOMICS, Bertin Martens, December 1995 http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/CLEA/Reports/BM-InnovationComplexity.html

8.
-
Economics of Ideas, Author Kevin Kelly on Paul Romer, http://hotwired.lycos.com/wired_online/4.06/romer/

9.
-
Unprecedented step challenges 'privatization of knowledge', News release on MIT OpenCourseWare, April 4, 2001 http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2001/ocw.html

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: the Economics of Ideas and the Public Domain Economics



Nipawin - April 9, 2001 - by: Mario deSantis

`monopolies`	Patents and copyrights are not ideas, they are monopolies granted to
	businesses for the commercialization of original ideas. We have
	experienced how, under the current contractual globalization framework,
	Monsanto's intellectual patent right on its genetically modified canola seeds
	supersedes the private right of a farmer to labour on his/her own land⁽¹⁾.

`marginal cost`	These monopolies allow multinational corporations to price their goods
	and services many times the marginal cost for their production, and for
	goods and services which can be digitized these prices can be a thousand
	times their marginal cost. This is why Paul Romer⁽²⁾, Dean Baker⁽³⁾, Michael
	Kremer⁽⁴⁾, Brian MacLean⁽⁵⁾ and many other intelligent economists support,
	in principle, the governmental funding of research.

`public domain`	Paul Romer goes as far as to envision a 'public domain economics⁽⁶⁾' where
	nonrival goods (goods which can be used by everyone at the same time
	such as software or any accessible information on the Internet) would be
	available free to anybody who wants.

`political leaders`	The Economics of Ideas⁽⁷⁾⁽⁸⁾ and the Public Domain Economics are very far
	away from the brains of our current political leaders as US President
	George W. Bush reneges the Kyoto's environmental agreement and looks for
	increasing petroleum and nuclear resources, and as our Prime Minister
	Jean Chretien sells the idea to have Canada's natural resources fuel the
	United States engine.

`Open Course Ware`	But there is hope, and the fair globalization of ideas is happening! In fact,
	MIT President Charles M. Vest has announced that the Massachusetts
	Institute of Technology will make the materials for nearly all its courses
	freely available on the Internet over the next ten years⁽⁹⁾. This project is
	known as the MIT OpenCourseWare (MITOCW). At the press conference
	held last April 4^th, President Vest has stated that
`widening access`	"OpenCourseWare looks counter-intuitive in a market driven world. It goes against the grain of current material values. But it really is consistent with what I believe is the best about MIT. It is innovative. It expresses our belief in the way education can be advanced -- by constantly widening access to information and by inspiring others to participate."

	All MIT staff support this innovative initiative, and Professor John Lienhard
	has commented
`knowledge`	"Why do I support OpenCourseWare? Last year, I posted my undergraduate heat transfer textbook on the web for no-charge distribution. It is a 700 page pdf file, fully hyperlinked, and also properly typeset. In the domestic book market, the cost for this book would be $85 for the hardback or $45 for the paperback. My aim, however, is to provide the knowledge to those who can't afford to buy the book. The book has been downloaded by users from around the globe."

`Economics of Ideas`	We have lots of business speculators, and we have lots of bubbles in the
	financial and stock market. But in the middle of today's economic confusion
	created by our conventional leadership, we are definitely moving towards
	the Economics of Ideas and the Public Domain Economics.

------------References/endnotes:

	List of relevant political and economics articles http://ensign.ftlcomm.com

1.	Globalizing our economies and manufacturing our justice, by Mario deSantis, March 31, 2001

2	Paul Romer, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University http://www.stanford.edu/~promer/

3. -	Dean Baker, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research http://www.cepr.net/dbbio.htm

4.	Michael Kremer, Harvard University http://post.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/kremer/

5.	MacLean's Economic Policy Page, by Brian K. MacLean, http://www.geocities.com/brian79/

6. -	The "Growth Illusion" vs. "New Growth Theory", Keith Rankin, 8 February 1998 http://www.ak.planet.gen.nz/~keithr/rf98_P_Romer.html

7. - -	INNOVATION, INCREASING COMPLEXITY AND THE NEED FOR A NEW PARADIGM IN ECONOMICS, Bertin Martens, December 1995 http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/CLEA/Reports/BM-InnovationComplexity.html

8. -	Economics of Ideas, Author Kevin Kelly on Paul Romer, http://hotwired.lycos.com/wired_online/4.06/romer/

9. -	Unprecedented step challenges 'privatization of knowledge', News release on MIT OpenCourseWare, April 4, 2001 http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2001/ocw.html