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About the Book
“Mine” is one of the first words babies learn. By the time we grow up, the idea of ownership seems natural, whether we are buying a cup of coffee or a house. But who controls the space behind your airplane seat: you reclining or the squished laptop user behind you? Why does HBO look the other way when you illegally borrow a password to stream their shows? And after a snowstorm, why does a chair in the street hold your parking space in Chicago, but in New York you lose the space and the chair?
Mine! explains these puzzles and many more. Remarkably, there are just six simple rules that everyone uses to claim everything. Owners choose the rule that steers us to do what they want. But we can pick a different rule. This is true not just for airplane seats, but also for battles over digital privacy, climate change, and wealth inequality. As Michael Heller and James Salzman show – in the spirited style of Freakonomics and Nudge – ownership is always up for grabs.
With stories that are
Mine! reveals the rules of ownership that secretly control our lives.
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Praise
“This delicious book will guide you through the confusing maze of ownership disputes that bedevil our daily lives. Who owns your ‘private’ information, your Netflix password, your yard’s airspace…”
“This delicious book will guide you through the confusing maze of ownership disputes that bedevil our daily lives. Who owns your ‘private’ information, your Netflix password, your yard’s airspace, and the chair of your deceased parents that you and your sister now both want? It’s often unclear: read and prepare yourself!”
“A fascinating discussion of what ownership is, what it isn’t, what it might be. It’s immensely clarifying, beautifully written, and perfectly timed — and it might improve the world to boot.”
“Mine! is one of those rare and treasured books that make you feel smarter and change the way you see the world. So much of the news I read just makes more sense now. I haven’t had an experience like this as a reader since Freakonomics...”
“Mine! is one of those rare and treasured books that make you feel smarter and change the way you see the world. So much of the news I read just makes more sense now. I haven’t had an experience like this as a reader since Freakonomics... The authors deliver a rollicking good read, filled with amazing stories about the secret rules of ownership and why they work in unexpected ways. This is way too much fun for an important book by leading minds in their field.”
“From a chair marking who shoveled the snow from a parking space to shared passwords for streaming digital content, from gene-editing technology to centuries of conflicts over lands around the globe…”
“From a chair marking who shoveled the snow from a parking space to shared passwords for streaming digital content, from gene-editing technology to centuries of conflicts over lands around the globe, who owns what underlies human conflicts, economic development, innovation, and international relations. With vivid stories and memorable insights, Heller and Salzman decode legal rules about ownership much as Freakonomics decodes economics and psychological rules of incentives. Besides illuminating things that are, this book shows how things could be–with wiser choices about ownership rules.”
“Who knew there are hidden rules of ownership controlling our lives? I didn’t until I read this fascinating, illuminating book. I’m very glad I did.”
“A delightful, often funny, book that brings to life the hidden but essential assumptions about how we own things — or imagine we do. It is filled with one irresistible and revealing story after another where the secret turns out to be who owns what, from Adam and Eve to the birth of barbed wire…”
“A delightful, often funny, book that brings to life the hidden but essential assumptions about how we own things — or imagine we do. It is filled with one irresistible and revealing story after another where the secret turns out to be who owns what, from Adam and Eve to the birth of barbed wire. MINE! will challenge how you think about everything from the groceries in your shopping cart to concert tickets on a scalping site. Make MINE! yours.”
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