Could we make information free?

Abstract

Distributing information is difficult for capitalism. On the one hand, information wants to be free, as for every person who values it but isn’t willing to pay a certain price for it, some value is being left on the table. But on the other hand, producing information costs money. The article under consideration proposes a scheme to make information free by having the government estimate the social value of goods and reimbursing the producers. This would allow producers to sell their products at or below marginal cost, making them more accessible to consumers. To avoid producers from overstating the marginal cost of their products, the scheme includes incentives to encourage widespread participation and penalties for non-compliance. – AI-generated abstract.