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Chomsky has been making this case for years. It's no fallacy. Every grant application I have submitted has a provision for transferring research products to bus

Chomsky has been making this case for years. It's no fallacy. Every grant application I have submitted has a provision for transferring research products to business. Just fill out the appropriate entry. It is understood that you don't talk about how the government takes the risk out of business by funding R&D efforts through taxpayer-funded grant allocations to research institutions, subsidies to business, generous patent monopoly grants and other measures. The taxpayer funds business innovation but receives no equity. Downvote me libertarians: I will have a mathematical treat for you non-mathematical political pundits, in good time.

icebraining 13y ago
What exactly do you believe libertarians would disagree with in your post? I'm not a libertarian, but that the government privatizes gains and socializes losses, that they grant subsidies and monopolies to businesses, taking the risk out of them, seems perfectly aligned with what I read from libertarian sources. Libertarians don't disagree that the government funds businesses, they disagree that it should do so.
clicks 13y ago
I'm not a libertarian, but may I please see your treat anyway? I'm curious.
shirederby 13y ago
> It is understood that you don't talk about how the government takes the risk out of business by funding R&D efforts through taxpayer-funded grant allocations to research institutions, subsidies to business, generous patent monopoly grants and other measures. I don't know why you think this would upset libertarians, myself included. Much of the problem we have with public funding* is that it privatizes gain and socializes loss, thus distorting market outcomes. IP is more controversial among libertarians, and I will grant that many libertarians support it on psuedo-Lockean grounds -- though many oppose it in whole or in part because of the market distortions it can create and because it restricts the peaceful behaviour of others. *I do not object to all public funding.

icebraining 13y ago

What exactly do you believe libertarians would disagree with in your post? I'm not a libertarian, but that the government privatizes gains and socializes losses, that they grant subsidies and monopolies to businesses, taking the risk out of them, seems perfectly aligned with what I read from libertarian sources. Libertarians don't disagree that the government funds businesses, they disagree that it should do so.

clicks 13y ago

I'm not a libertarian, but may I please see your treat anyway? I'm curious.

shirederby 13y ago

> It is understood that you don't talk about how the government takes the risk out of business by funding R&D efforts through taxpayer-funded grant allocations to research institutions, subsidies to business, generous patent monopoly grants and other measures. I don't know why you think this would upset libertarians, myself included. Much of the problem we have with public funding* is that it privatizes gain and socializes loss, thus distorting market outcomes. IP is more controversial among libertarians, and I will grant that many libertarians support it on psuedo-Lockean grounds -- though many oppose it in whole or in part because of the market distortions it can create and because it restricts the peaceful behaviour of others. *I do not object to all public funding.