The Gridlock Economy

This is one of the most perceptive popular books on property since "Das Kapital". Every so often an idea comes along that transforms our understanding of how the world works. Michael Heller has discovered a market dynamic that no one knew existed. Usually, private ownership creates wealth, but too much ownership has the opposite effect - it creates gridlock. When too many people own pieces of one thing, whether a physical or intellectual resource, cooperation breaks down, wealth disappears, and everybody loses. Heller's paradox is at the centre of The Gridlock Economy. Today's leading edge of innovation - in high tech, biomedicine, music, film, real estate - requires the assembly of separately owned resources. But gridlock is blocking economic growth all along the wealth creation frontier. Heller zips from medieval robber barons to modern-day broadcast spectrum squatters; from Mississippi courts selling African-American family farms to troubling New York City land confiscations; and, from Chesapeake Bay oyster pirates to today's gene patent and music mash-up outlaws. Each tale offers insights into how to spot gridlock in operation and how we can overcome it. "The Gridlock Economy" is a startling, accessible biography of an idea. Nothing is inevitable about gridlock. It results from choices we make about how to control the resources we value most. It is more important than ever that we unlock the grid; this book shows us where to start.

ISBN 046501898X   Pages 288 ISBN13 9780465018987 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 363 Publisher The Perseus Books Group   Published in New York Imprint Basic Books   Height (mm) 210 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 140 Publication date 04 Mar 2010   Spine width (mm) 19 DEWEY 330.17   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

"Sharp economic analysis and wise advice for policy makers."-Wall Street Journal "Excellent."-FT.com"

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