Wealth & Money Quote by Howard Berman

Berman’s line isn’t really a question; it’s a pressure tactic dressed up as curiosity. By asking “How much greater,” he presumes the moral and economic verdict is already in: copyright owners are being unfairly blocked, “pirate product” is the culprit, and the U.S. economy is the injured party. The only missing detail is the price tag of the harm, the number that justifies tougher enforcement.

The intent is strategic. It shifts copyright from a niche industry concern into a national-interest issue, recasting private rights as public prosperity. “Contributions to the U.S. economy” is the crucial phrase: it invites lawmakers to see stronger copyright rules as jobs-and-growth policy, not corporate rent-seeking. That framing matters in Congress, where persuasion often hinges on whether a problem can be narrated as economic security.

The subtext is even sharper: foreign markets are depicted as lawless spaces “dominated” by piracy, implying that trade partners either can’t or won’t police intellectual property without U.S. pressure. It quietly primes the audience for leverage - trade negotiations, sanctions, expanded border seizures, criminal penalties - while avoiding the messy questions: affordability, access, local distribution failures, or whether some “piracy” is a symptom of unmet demand rather than sheer criminality.

Contextually, this fits a late-20th/early-21st century Washington pattern where Hollywood, music, and software industry priorities were braided into trade policy. Berman’s phrasing turns enforcement into patriotism, and makes skepticism sound like leaving money - and legitimacy - on the table.