MPS-funded research treated patents as obstacles to developing-world growth.

Evidence

From 1958 to 1968, Machlup received nearly 400,000 in funding (nearly 3 million in 2017 values) from a series of foundations including the National Science Foundation to investigate the question of technology, including patent protection, and copyrights. … Among the project’s products was a talk by German economics student Gerhard Prosi at the Caracas, Venezuela, regional meeting of the MPS in 1969 on “patents and copyrights as obstacles to development.” Prosi argued forthrightly that “no economic justification for the protection of foreign inventions in developing countries can be derived from traditional theories.” Machlup has remained an inspiration to later critics. The most radical opponents of IP in recent years, the economists Michele Boldrin and David K. Levine, frame their book as a long dialogue with the Austrian neoliberal. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 184

Categorization

• XREF: Gives an empirical anchor to the later wave of anti-IP economists (Boldrin/Levine) and connects to ongoing IP debates outside the book. — connects to: MPS research argued patents obstruct economic development in poorer countries — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 184; Early MPS neoliberals favored weaker patent rights over stronger ones — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 183

Broader Connections

• MPS research argued patents obstruct economic development in poorer countries #corroborates (1.00) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 184
• Early MPS neoliberals favored weaker patent rights over stronger ones #expands (0.90) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 183