{"product_id":"the-gridlock-economy-michael-heller-9780465018987","title":"The Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation, and Costs Lives","description":"\u003cb\u003e25 new runways\u003c\/b\u003e would eliminate most air travel delays in America. Why can't we build them? \u003cb\u003e50 patent owners\u003c\/b\u003e are blocking a major drug maker from creating a cancer cure. Why won't they get out of the way? \u003cb\u003e90% of our broadcast spectrum\u003c\/b\u003e sits idle while American cell phone service lags far behind Japan's and Korea's. Why are we wasting our airwaves? \u003cb\u003e98% of African American -- owned farms\u003c\/b\u003e have been sold off over the last century. Why can't we stop the loss? All these problems are really the same problem -- one whose solution would jump-start innovation, release trillions in productivity, and help revive our slumping economy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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 center of \u003ci\u003eThe Gridlock Economy\u003c\/i\u003e. 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A thousand scholars have applied and verified Heller's paradox. Now he takes readers on a lively tour of gridlock battlegrounds. 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Gridlock Economy\u003c\/i\u003e 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. We can unlock the grid; this book shows us where to start.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Michael Heller\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 046501898X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780465018987\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Basic Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/23\/2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.94h x 6.44w x 0.76d","brand":"Michael Heller","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43980954140927,"sku":"9780465018987","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_1bbd3bcc-eaab-4c92-a5fc-1f1e81a64631.jpg?v=1683252863","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-gridlock-economy-michael-heller-9780465018987","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}