Fritz Machlup

Machlup studied under Friedrich von Wieser and Ludwig von Mises at the University of Vienna and remained at least mildly sympathetic to the ideas and methods of Austrian Economics for all of his life. He taught at numerous American universities (including Princeton) and greatly contributed to the emergence of informational economics with his classic “The Production and Distribution of Knowledge in the United States”. Machlup also worked on the patent-system and vehemently questioned the necessity to protect technical inventions and innovations through state action.