The Case for Market Economics, Innovation and Rule of Law

This week our conversation is with Patrick Kilbride, who is a public policy expert with significant expertise at the intersection between market economics, innovation and intellectual property. A former Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative during the George W. Bush Administration, Kilbride has spent the last 15 years working on innovation policy at the United States Chamber of Commerce, most recently as Senior Vice President of the Global Innovation Policy Center. Several months ago, Kilbride decided to leave the Chamber to chart his own course, founding Kilbride Public Affairs, where he will continue to engage global policymakers in support of market economics, innovation and the rule of law. 

At the beginning of our conversation Kilbride explains that “one of the most remarkable things about the American economy is that what we have done historically does seem to be so unique.” He then pointed to five distinguishing features, which we spend the rest of our conversation discussing. According to Kilbride, what makes the U.S. unique is that the American economic approach enables risk taking and failure, fosters competition and ensures goods and services can cross state lines, provides property rights, is based on the rule of law, and establishes markets.