Intellectual-property rules are clearly necessary to spur innovation: if every invention could be stolen, or every new drug immediately copied, few people would invest in innovation. But too much protection can strangle competition and can limit what economists call 'incremental innovation' - innovations that build, in some way, on others.
James SurowieckiDefense contractors are able to reap tremendous profits while rarely confronting the risks for which those profits are supposed to be the reward.
James SurowieckiYou can't fuel real economic growth with indiscriminate credit. You can only fuel it with well-allocated, long-term investment.
James SurowieckiCompanies have long gathered data to break down their customer base into specific segments. Now political parties have become adept at micro-targeting, too, using data on shopping habits, leisure activities, voting histories, charity donations, and so on, in order to pinpoint likely supporters and the type of appeal most likely to win them over.
James SurowieckiIn the heart of the Great Depression, millions of American workers did something they'd never done before: they joined a union. Emboldened by the passage of the Wagner Act, which made collective bargaining easier, unions organized industries across the country, remaking the economy.
James Surowiecki