Infinitely strong property rights, beneficial for land, would be catastrophic for ideas: pushing IP to the extreme would let an initial holder block all subsequent innovation—imagine needing to negotiate with the heirs of whoever invented the A-minor chord before playing it—so the right regime must allow controlling something for sale to consumers while never giving blocking power that prevents better versions from emerging.

normativepending

Speaker

Paul Romer

Evidence Quote

infinitely strong property rights on land are a great idea, infinitely strong property rights on ideas could really hamstring future future innovators

Source

Paul Romer on Growth 8/27/2007EconTalk
Created: 6/16/2026, 2:38:24 PM

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