The Forbes Book Review’s Unpardonable Ignorance

[solutions]

.

---------------------------- Original Message -----------------------------
Subject: The Forbes Book Review’s Derogation of Politicians
From: Solutions
Date: Tue, October 31, 2023 9:22 pm PDT
To: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
Attachment:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear John,

I was struck a few minutes ago by the following paragraph from the Forbes Book Review of our focus book (viewtopic.php?f=766&t=2417&sid=b1aec282 ... d4e7f53ede) --

“Gilder’s information as wealth view of the world thoroughly rejects what’s always vandalized reason for it holding fast to the truth that wealth is knowledge. Write it down over and over again with politicians top of mind. As readers of this column have read over and over again: politicians are constrained by the known. And they direct precious funds in politicized fashion to the known. What choice do they have when it’s remembered that the unknown is defined by thoroughly outlandish and realistically impossible concepts. Regardless of party affiliation, politicians can’t touch that which invents the future. Progress is a consequence of knowledge creation that springs from producing heretofore unknown information. Gilder’s new economics of knowledge discredits Keynes far more effectively than does ‘incentive economics.’”

Does this make sense?

Regards,

Pat


---------------------------- Original Message -----------------------------
Subject: The Forbes Book Review’s Unpardonable Ignorance
From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
Date: Wed, November 1, 2023 9:47 am MDT
To: Solutions
Attachment:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Solutions,

Of course, it does NOT make sense!!!

One need only recall (from high school history if one wasn’t alive at the time), President Kennedy’s 5/25/1961 speech before a Joint Session of Congress announcing the goal of sending an American safely to the moon before the end of the decade - https://history.nasa.gov/moondec.html.

Apparently, Forbes has never heard of the Federal Government’s National Science Foundation and its National Institute of Health, both which also fund basic research.

And in addition to NASA et al., unbeknownst to Forbes the Department of Defense is constantly funding new research.

There have been studies documenting that much, if not most, technological discoveries employed by the American economy were funded by the federal government – AND UTILIZED BY PRIVATE INDUSTRY FREE OF CHARGE BECAUSE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DOES NOT PATENT THE DISCOVERIES IT FINANCES!!!

Indeed, our 11/2/2011 meeting resulted in our “Six Degrees of Separation” E-mail Campaign to President Obama at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact which said –

*********************************************
Benefiting American Taxpayers For The Scientific Discoveries Of Basic Research They Have Financed

President Barack Obama

Dear Mr. President:

As you are probably aware, the U.S. Government funds an incredible amount of basic research through the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, the Defense Department, etc.

As you are probably also aware, the U.S. Government does not patent many of the discoveries that result from this research. Instead, companies both U.S.- and foreign-based are free to capitalize on these discoveries and, more importantly, they are free to conduct manufacturing based on these discoveries in low-wage countries such as China.

Accordingly, it is recommended that you announce a new policy accompanied by legislation, if necessary - (A) that the U.S. Government will patent all discoveries resulting from basic research that it funds, and (B) that the U.S. Government will require licensees, whether U.S.- or foreign-based, to conduct in the United States any manufacturing operations utilizing the technology.

It is recognized that many of the discoveries resulting from research conducted by the Defense Department are kept secret, much like the famous Coca Cola formula is a "trade secret." However, it should be a small matter to provide that when defense secrets finally enter the public domain, they will automatically be subject at that time to a new patent owned by the U.S. government that will become part of the program described above.

Most importantly, in addition to vigorous enforcement of the U.S. Government's patents and trade secrets under the existing provisions of the TRIPS Agreement of the 153-member World Trade Organization (WTO) which includes China, the U.S. should insist that (A) every WTO country will ban imports of goods made with the U.S. government's technology without a license, and (B) imports of other goods by WTO countries from countries that use the U.S. government's technology without a license to produce goods for internal use or export to non-WTO countries, will be subject to seizure to pay both for the royalties that should have been paid on the goods used internally or exported to non-WTO countries and also for the lost wages of American workers.

Thank you for your consideration.

********** End of Our “Six Degrees of Separation” E-mail Campaign to President Obama**********

Thank you for your inquiry. Yes, so far we’ve had 53 public-policy campaigns over our 18 years of existence and it is fun to recall some of the campaigns from long ago – ESPECIALLY WHEN THEIR POLICY PLEAS HAVE NOT BEEN HEEDED!!! [Though perhaps "fun" should be replaced by "sad"!!!]

Your friend,

John K.