Crash Course Economics
Intellectual Property & Monopoly Capitalism — with Cecilia Rikap
May 10, 2021
Cecilia Rikap, a political economist, discusses the connection between intellectual property, monopoly power, and the rise of Big Tech. Topics include the impact of intellectual monopoly capitalism, the geopolitical struggle between the US and China, and the concentration of intangible assets. The podcast explores the transformation of big tech companies, collective gatekeeping, and the need for comprehensive policies to address the issues surrounding big tech.
01:03:51
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Quick takeaways
- Intellectual monopolies capture and control knowledge, transforming it into intangible assets and enabling big tech companies to amass enormous financial power.
- Big tech companies as intellectual monopolies harvest and process big data, establishing dominance over markets and extracting value from societies worldwide.
Deep dives
Intellectual Monopolies and Capturing Knowledge
The podcast explores the concept of intellectual monopolies and how they capture and control knowledge. These intellectual monopolies rely on a permanent and expanding monopoly over society's knowledge, which is then transformed into intangible assets. This allows them to garner rents and keep a large portion of the value produced. The podcast discusses how big tech companies are a prime example of intellectual monopolies, as they have amassed enormous financial power and monopolize access to knowledge. The implications of this for workers include precarious working conditions, lower wages, and a weakening of labor unions.
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