Phil Salin
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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 futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...
, best known for his contributions to theories about the development of
cyberspace Cyberspace is an interconnected digital environment. It is a type of virtual world popularized with the rise of the Internet. The term entered popular culture from science fiction and the arts but is now used by technology strategists, security ...
and as a proponent of private (non-governmental)
space exploration Space exploration is the process of utilizing astronomy and space technology to investigate outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted bo ...
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 in and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of th ...
. 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 Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and a leader of the so-called "Historical School" of political and social philosophy. Salin earned a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in
Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
from
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
in 1970, and a
Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...
from
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. 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 c ...
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 agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
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 world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...
and
Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
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 (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 told ''
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
'' about the challenges Salin faced, "Phil had to create his own
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
. 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 consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
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 ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...
and Austrian economist. He was a
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
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 acc ...
,
Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992) was an Austrian-born British academic and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobe ...
,
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 ...
,
Ludwig von Mises Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; ; September 29, 1881 – October 10, 1973) was an Austrian-American political economist and philosopher of the Austrian school. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the social contributions of classical l ...
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 #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
. 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 malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...
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 in California American futurologists People from San Rafael, California Stanford University alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni