Transcript Ethics 3.7 Merck Philanthropy & IPR

Locke (p158)
• Treatise on govt 1689: life liberty & property “are gifts of
God”.
• There must be a means to “appropriate” property, so it
can then be of benefit (e.g. organising private farms in
pioneering days).
• When you work (e.g. on developing the land) it becomes
yours; you can exclude others.
• *Each person should have as much of the “land” as
he is capable of fully developing. No more (since
waste), no less (since loss of potential development).
• Nb. This argument applies only if there is plenty of land,
otherwise there will be conflict.
• It also seems to imply that everyone should have free
access to all existing knowledge.
• Money (and markets) give an extra incentive to “develop”
(the land), since one can easily trade the surplus wealth.
For & against patents
Proposition
• Receive fruits of labor
• K in public domain
• Productive efficiency
• $ as motive
Counter
IP taken from Labor
Privatise commons
Monopoly
Complex motives
Drug donation: altruism or strategy?
• Altruism
• Multi-capital formation
• Role model, stimulus
• Support communities
• Strategy: Public
relations, brandawareness, avoid
“compulsory license”,
undercut local
competitors, acquire local
K, political capital
• Multi-capital destruction
• Constrain host ind. dev.
• Disrupt with globalisation
The limitations of Philanthropy (compared to tax)
include:
(i)it’s a lottery on the receiving end,
(ii) it often involves priorities other than poverty
alleviation,
(iii) the total tax-take will always greatly exceed voluntary
donations because of the incentive to free-ride, and
(iv) the 35% of American wealth owned by the wealthiest
1% should (for effic & justice) have been properly
taxed and regulated all along. (As described in TWA,
much of it is was appropriated by anti-competitive or
anti-democratic means.)
+ / - influences in partnerships for health
+/Pharmaceutical
Cos
Indirect
influence
Health
improvement
Direct
influence
Governments
+/-