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Michael Heller
Professor of Real Estate Law, Columbia Law; Author
Michael Heller is one of America’s leading authorities on property. He is the Lawrence A. Wien Professor of Real Estate Law at Columbia Law School.
His new book The Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation, and Costs Lives was released in 2008. In The Gridlock Economy, Heller draws on everyday experiences - from airport delays to new-style rap music - to show why the structure of ownership matters so much more than people may realize. Private ownership usually creates wealth, but too much ownership has the opposite effect - it creates gridlock. This is a free market paradox that Heller discovered and it's the dynamic at the center of our gridlock economy.
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Helping people to secure ownership rights and take advantage of the resources around them was a driving force behind Michael Heller’s work in Russia and Latin America.
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Michael Heller argues that the rules of ownership, though they may seem strict, have a lot of choice built into them.
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The system of checks and balances in the American political system is an example of positive gridlock, says Michael Heller.
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Breaking the link between the borrower and the lender by dividing mortgages into bonds led to a serious crisis of investments, according to Michael Heller.
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The next president must work to reform patent law in order to address a major source of gridlock, says Michael Heller.
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According to Michael Heller, there is strong link between democracy and property, but people should be willing to sacrifice some ownership to improve society overall.
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Once people spot instances of gridlock, they can begin to address them collectively, says Michael Heller.