In a lively synthesis of modern economic, technological and cultural research, Gar Alperovitz and Lew Daly demonstrate that up to 90% (and perhaps more) of current economic output derives not from individual ingenuity, effort or investment but from our collective inheritance of scientific and technological knowledge. Alperovitz and Daly pursue the implications of this research, persuasively arguing that there is no reason any one person should be entitled to that inheritance.