A startling and definitive account of the “tragedy of the anticommons,” a hidden economic phenomenon that costs trillions in lost productivity and affects every field

25 new runways would eliminate most air travel delays in America. Why can’t we build them? 50 patent owners are blocking a major drug maker from creating a cancer cure. Why won’t they get out of the way? 90% of our broadcast spectrum sits idle while American cell phone service lags far behind Japan’s and Korea’s. Why are we wasting our airwaves? 98% of African American–owned farms 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.

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 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.

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.

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. We can unlock the grid; this book shows us where to start.

Slate Magazine
"The last decade has produced enough books challenging received wisdom to fill a small—and stupendously popular—library called the Compendium of Counter-intuition, [including Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, James Surowiecki's Wisdom of Crowds, Chris Anderson's Long Tail]. The newest addition to the collection is The Gridlock Economy. . . . The difference is that Heller, unlike most of the authors of counterintuitive books, is actually a leader in the academic field he is scrutinizing. . . . Heller has managed to pull off one of the most perceptive popular books on property since Das Kapital."

Business Week
"The bottom line: a compelling account with broad policy implications." 

Wall Street Journal Law Blog
"It seems all too infrequent an occurrence that a law professor writes a thoughtful and accessible book about law for a lay audience. But Michael Heller has done just that."

Time Magazine Curious Capitalist Blog
"Maybe the revolution starts with The Gridlock Economy."

Penthouse
"This could be one of this year's most important books. . . . Maybe the best thing to do is to send a copy of this vital book to your congressional representative."

Reuters
"Offers a new way to look at economic issues."

Michael Heller is one of America’s leading authorities on ownership. He is the Lawrence A. Wien Professor of Real Estate Law at Columbia Law School and has served as the school’s Vice Dean for Intellectual Life. He lives in New York and Los Angeles.

Imprint: Basic Books
Distributor: Perseus Books Group
Publication Date: 07-07-2008
Pages: 304
Measurements: 9.25in X 6.13in