When the ideas in our heads are worth more than the roofs above them

When the ideas inside our heads are worth more than the roofs above them, it’s a sign of the times. That is to say, investment in intellectual property – the business of ideas – is now worth more to the US economy than residential real estate – the business of bricks and mortar. This creates a dilemma for measuring the economy as what matters most risks being measured least, writes Will Page.

 
The twists and turns in the lines charted below offer a timely reminder in economic history. Only twenty years ago the tables were turned; residential real estate was not only worth more than intellectual property but poised to increase in value. But then the housing market collapsed, taking the world economy with it, kicking off a decade of convulsions that have brought us to where we are: a new normal where investment in the ideas inside us continues to outstrip that in the houses around us. Yet our ability to measure the contribution of our ideas remains worryingly limited.

Our ideas fall under the umbrella of intellectual property, essentially copyright, trademarks, and patents. Unsurprisingly, as the former chief economist at Spotify (and previously PRS for Music) my speciality is copyright as that’s what creates and captures the value of music. Perhaps, more surprisingly, almost a decade ago I worked with Jonathan Haskell to demonstrate to the bean counters that ‘music [was] seven times more valuable to UK plc than first thought’. That marked a beginning in personal curiosity about how we judge the state we’re in when what matters most is often intangible and that risks being measured least.

Συνέχεια ανάγνωσης εδώ

Πηγή: blogs.lse.ac.uk