FREE Decline & Fall [updated]

If you’ve been enjoying the Guest Posts that have appeared here from Dale Halling  on Intellectual Property, then you’re going to love this special offer, a FREE  Kindle version of his book explaining how the US has lost its innovation engine – The Decline and Fall of the American Entrepreneur: How Little Known Laws and Regulations are Killing Innovation.  

This offer is valid for one week only.  Sadly, this offer has just expired—but you can still pick up the Kindle version for the giveaway price of just USD4.99!  At that price it’s still a snip.

The book provides simple, inexpensive suggestions for how to rev up the innovation engine, along with explanations of the little-known laws passed within the last decade that have crippled America’s innovation, resulting in the stagnation in median family income that was a major contributor to the housing crisis. 

What reviewers are saying about The Decline and Fall of the American Entrepreneur:

“Dale Halling’s Decline and Fall of the American Entrepreneur makes a compelling case for the need to reform regulatory and other policies that hamstring entrepreneurial innovation in our country. Everyone concerned about the decline in American innovation should read this book.”
David Kline, co-author of Rembrandts in the Attic and Burning the Ships

I do not review books on the ‘net unless I find them well-written and especially informative, which certainly applies to Dale B. Halling’s The Decline and Fall of the American Entrepreneur… Mr. Halling is a physicist, lawyer and an expert on patents and entrepreneurship, all of which comes through in his book. This author delivers the goods…
    He demonstrates in clear terms the linkages between economic growth, productivity, and income. And he lays out how technological advancement has always been the American advantage in global competition, an advantage that the U.S. is squandering…
    In sum, this is well-written, jargon-free, 137-page book that is a quick read. It evidences smart and practical thinking by an author with real world experience. I highly recommend it.
Dr. Pat Choate, economist, former Vice Presidential running mate of Ross Perot 1996, Director of the Manufacturing Policy Institute, PhD. Economics University of Oklahoma.

The Decline and Fall of the American Entrepreneur presents the issues facing technology start-up companies in today’s environment.  The book sheds light on the underpinnings of these issues and is enthralling.  Halling’s tight, accessible and personal style make this a fast and compelling read.  His book is a political clarion call that should be heard now.
Greg Jones, former President Ramtron International (RMTR) and CEO Symetrix Corporation. 

This book conclusively establishes the link between innovation and per capita income, and shows that we have recently entered into a time in which innovation is under assault.  This assault has resulted in a predictable loss of income and contributed significantly to the economic woes we are experiencing right now.  The book’s sound policy recommendations suggest a way to turn the economic ship around to set a course for a return to prosperity.
Peter Meza, Patent Attorney – Counsel Hogan & Hartson, Attorney for Alappat –  In re Alappat

I am familiar with some of the sharp criticisms that have been made of patents by the likes of Stephan Kinsella, Tom G Palmer, and Timothy Sandefur… But I had a nagging worry about how, exactly, would a world without IP operate? Despite the claims from Kinsella and others that innovations would proceed happily without IP and have done so, the facts that I can see don't quite back this up. Consider, that during the 1980s and 1990s, we have seen the rise of biotechnology, the Internet, nanotechnology, and commercial space flight (developing as I write these words). I just don't see how patents and copyrights have stymied any of these industries. Of course, we'll never know for sure whether innovation would have been faster or slower in the absence of IP. However, if we look at parts of the world without secure legal systems and property rights, the evidence is that innovation tends to be less, or non-existent.
What is effective about the book is how Halling shows that the combination of developments such as attacks on IP, stock options and IPOs (Sarbanes Oxley) have been so ruinous. And there are powerful lessons here not just for the United States, but for Europeans and others as well.
Thomas H. Burroughes