Quote:
Originally Posted by Edward M. Grant
A free market doesn't have patents, trademarks and copyrights. You can see that a free market ensures the cost of purchase approaches the cost of production because the people who ignore those government-mandated monopolies are often selling the same product from the same factory for a fraction of the price.
You can certainly argue that patents, trademarks and copyright are beneficial, but you can't blame the free market when government intervention pushes prices up.
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Property rights are basically the same whether you are talking about intellectual property or real property (i.e., real estate). Land would also be a lot cheaper if the government didn't declare one person to be the "owner" and provide remedies for that person to defend his property against encroachment.
For that matter, stolen cars are usually cheaper than the equivalent car bought from the actual owner with a government enforced monopoly on the use of that car.