Watt, Again? Boldrin and Levine Still Exaggerate the Adverse Effect of Patents on the Progress of Steam Power

Abstract In an earlier comment on Boldrin and Levine’s 2003 lecture on patents and their effect on technology, we observed that their account of James Watt’s influence on the progress of steam technology contained factual errors which tended to exaggerate the negative consequences of Watt’s patent. We concluded that it was far from obvious that a corrected account would support Boldrin and Levine’s bold conjectures. While Boldrin and Levine’s 2008 “Against Intellectual Monopoly” begins with a new version of Watt’s story that claims to take our earlier criticisms into account, here we assess that version and conclude that it shares many of the shortcomings of the original. Submitted: November 27, 2009 · Accepted: November 27, 2009 · Published: December 31, 2009 Recommended Citation Selgin, George and Turner, John L. (2009) "Watt, Again? Boldrin and Levine Still Exaggerate the Adverse Effect of Patents on the Progress of Steam Power," Review of Law & Economics: Vol. 5 : Iss. 3, Article 7. DOI: 10.2202/1555-5879.1432 Available at: http://www.bepress.com/rle/vol5/iss3/art7