Phillip Kenneth Salin (1950–1991) was an American
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...
and
futurist
Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...
, best known for his contributions to theories about the development of
cyberspace
Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday rea ...
and as a proponent of private (non-governmental)
space exploration
Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration though is conducted both by robotic spacec ...
and development.
Education and early life
Salin was born in Hollywood, California and raised in
San Rafael, California
San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), ...
. Salin's father was
Lothar Salin, a psychotherapist and public interest activist in San Rafael. His grandfather was
Edgar Salin, an historian/economist/philosopher at
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and a leader of the so-called "Historical School" of political and social philosophy. Salin earned a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in
Economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
from
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
in 1970, and a
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
from
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
. He did postgraduate studies with James G. March at Stanford University. Some of Salin's early work on telecommunications policy started
the breakup of AT&T and the deregulation of the field.
In the early-70's, Salin worked as a programmer at ''Bechtel Financing Services'', where he invented a precursor of
spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in cel ...
software.
Space
In the 1980s, Salin applied his economics expertise to the problem of access to outer space. He cofounded ARC Technologies
/Rocket Company
/
Starstruck, a private space launch company. On February 28, 1984, Salin testified to the US House Space Science and Applications Subcommittee of the Committee on Science and Technology, stating that
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
had substantially underestimated the cost of its launches and thus was massively subsidizing them, harming other competitors such as the
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.
Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...
and
Delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also re ...
rockets. NASA's published cost and price
of $71 million per launch contrasted with Salin's calculated costs of $200 to $250 million per launch.
In 1987, Salin and
James C. Bennett published "The Private Solution to the Space Transportation Crisis". A NASA bibliography on the Shuttle described it as:
The authors of this lengthy article assert that confused and short-sighted decisions dominated by political expediency have been made about the U.S. space program for the past 30 years. Overly large and ambitious systems have been chosen, resulting in the present crisis in space transportation. The history of commercial aircraft development offers an alternative example of producing a range of sizes and capabilities for a wide variety of users and shows that the space transportation industry could benefit from applying the decision-making processes used in private enterprise. The authors examine strategies for privatization of the Shuttle and conclude that policy support for the commercial launch industry must be continued. NASA must also be reoriented toward its basic research function, and more government services should be bought from the private sector.
American Information Exchange
In 1984 Salin founded the
American Information Exchange
The American Information Exchange (AMIX) was a platform for the buying and selling of information, goods and services as well as the exchange of information, ideas, and certain kinds of intellectual work product, created by economist and futurist ...
(AMIX), a network for the buying and selling of information, goods and services. Salin invented the concepts of smart contracts, and buying and selling which are now considered standard ecommerce.
AMIX did not patent their inventions. Therefore, the inventions of buying and selling electronically - ecommerce - entered public domain and became the basis for other enterprises such as eBay, Priceline and Amazon.
AMIX struggled to create the infrastructure required to establish an online exchange in an era before the web and the ready availability of online tools, higher bandwidth and graphic interfaces. AMIX folded in 1993 after Salin had died and it was unable to raise additional venture capital. In 1999
Doc Searls
David "Doc" Searls (born July 29, 1947), is an American journalist, columnist, and a widely read blogger. He is the host of FLOSS Weekly, a free and open-source software (FLOSS) themed netcast from the TWiT Network, a co-author of ''The Cluetra ...
told ''
Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
'' about the challenges Salin faced, "Phil had to create his own
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. In hindsight, it couldn't be done ... The time really is now. It wasn't then, much as we wanted it to be."
Political views
Salin recognized that the growth in the power of computers and telecommunications, and the reduction in costs would reduce the transaction costs of exchanging knowledge, with strong attendant benefits to humankind. Salin opposed patents on
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
because of the limitations on free speech and the restrictions patents posed to the growth of knowledge by stopping competition between ideas. He submitted a comment to the US Patent Office to this effect.
Politically, Salin was a
libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
and Austrian economist.
He was a
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
fan, and his major influences and favorite writers included
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
,
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Haye ...
,
Karl Popper
Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian-British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the cl ...
,
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and Sociology, sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberali ...
and other Austrian economists and political philosophers.
Personal life
Salin enjoyed fantasy, collected comic books, and read voluminously in all areas of fantasy and science fiction. He was also a fan of
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
. Salin's wife and business partner in rocket company ARC Technologies and the American Information Exchange (AMiX) was author Gayle Pergamit. He died of
stomach cancer
Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...
in December
1991.
References
*Mark Miller, AMIX As The First Smart Contracting System
External links
A collection of Salin's papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salin, Phil
1950 births
1991 deaths
American libertarians
Austrian School economists
Cryonically preserved people
Deaths from stomach cancer
Futurologists
People from San Rafael, California
Stanford University alumni
University of California, Los Angeles alumni