The number of patents has increased dramatically in the past three decades, as has the number of patent-related lawsuits, particularly in the field of software. Industry and academic experts have expressed concern that many of the patents being issued are of low quality. Writing in the Journal...

IN THEIR RESPONSE, AS IN THEIR PAPER, BYRNE AND THOMPSON elide the implausible assumptions that drive their model. Consider their statement: “Only a fraction of the population need view organ donation as costly for our results to hold.†Since I agree that survey evidence...

Greater payment induces greater supply. The reasons offered by Byrne and Thompson to doubt this proposition in the field of organ donation are unconvincing. Financial compensation for those who sign their organ donor cards would save lives.

Nathaniel Baum-Snow has investigated the impact of the introduction of the interstate highway system in the U.S. on the decline of central city populations. He finds that it is has had a significant effect on central city population decline and increased suburbanization. He suggests that had the...

Development is a systematic and evolutionary process, which is not limited to the improvement of economic performance per se. Institutions that support economic freedom and governments that may or may not support development and freedom probably evolve together. A recent study by La Porta et al...