For the weak

"Patents are for the weak." Elon Musk says a lot of stupid stuff, but this one is interesting. Patents, in his mind, stifle creativity and hinder the flow of ideas. A good company or productive scientist should be able to come up with new ideas to keep getting better. It's an extreme position but an interesting thought experiment.

What then shall we say of tariffs? Who are they for? What would be the fate of Tesla, for example, if we let BYD sell cars in America? Things would get interesting fast.

Similarly, borders and immigration controls. If there was a free flow of people and products across them, would chaos really ensue? Or would we just end up with markets and pricing governing a lot more things. Yes, it would be messy at first. A lot of people would come to places perceived as attractive. But pretty soon an equilibrium would be established. As labor costs got dragged down and workforce housing bid up in the developed world, and as wages were sent home to family members, the advantages of leaving home would diminish. If border enforcement could just concentrate on stopping drugs and other contraband rather than people, they might even get better at it.

I'm dramatically oversimplifying things and my time allocated for blogging draws to a close, but it's worth pondering.