Selgin, George; Turner, John L. - In: Journal of Law and Economics 54 (2011) 4, pp. 841-841
James Watt’s 1769 patent is widely supposed to have stood in the way of the development of high-pressure steam technology until it finally expired in 1800. We dispute this popular claim. We show that although it is true that high-pressure steam technology developed only after the expiration of...