But most economists agree that such incentives must be balanced against the need to accelerate knowledge dissemination and absorption, and that the optimum is somewhere in the middle. In this sense, the US demand for longer terms of patent and copyright protection is arbitrary, because they are not founded on a clear-cut case for enhanced economic efficiency.
没人反对需要强力保护知识产权。如果发明家无法指望因为他们的成就而获得奖赏，他们就会停止发明，投资者也会停止资助他们从事发明冒险。但大部分经济学家都同意，这一激励必须权衡加快知识传播和吸收的需要，最优点在于两者的某个折中。从这个角度，美国延长专利和版权保护期的要求可谓“任性”，因为这绝非明显有利于经济效率的做法。