MPS research argued patents obstruct economic development in poorer countries

Evidence

The gist of the research was skeptical about IP rights. 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: Directly contradicts the common narrative that the neoliberal/Chicago program drove TRIPS and global patent maximalism; links to Graham Dutfield and Susan Sell’s histories of IP expansion. — connects to: Early MPS neoliberals favored weaker patent rights over stronger ones — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 183; Development economics was a persistent MPS concern, not a marginal one — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 1338; Early MPS theorists held that IP rights artificially create scarcity — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 177 (+1 more)