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What, though, is really wrong with recognizing “new”property rights? After all, since new ideas, artistic creations,and innovations continually enrich us, what is theharm in moving with the times by recognizing new formsof property? The problem is that if property rights are recognizedin non-scarce resources, this necessarily meansthat property rights in tangible resources are correspondinglydiminished. This is because the only way to recognizeideal rights, in our real, scarce world, is to allocate rights intangible goods. For me to have an effective patent right—a right in an idea or pattern, not in a scarce resource—means that I have some control over everyone else’s scarceresources.