The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere ElseA renowned economist's classic book on capitalism in the developing world, showing how property rights are the key to overcoming poverty "The hour of capitalism's greatest triumph," writes Hernando de Soto, "is, in the eyes of four-fifths of humanity, its hour of crisis." In The Mystery of Capital, the world-famous Peruvian economist takes up one of the most pressing questions the world faces today: Why do some countries succeed at capitalism while others fail? In strong opposition to the popular view that success is determined by cultural differences, de Soto finds that it actually has everything to do with the legal structure of property and property rights. Every developed nation in the world at one time went through the transformation from predominantly extralegal property arrangements, such as squatting on large estates, to a formal, unified legal property system. In the West we've forgotten that creating this system is what allowed people everywhere to leverage property into wealth. This persuasive book revolutionized our understanding of capital and points the way to a major transformation of the world economy. |
From inside the book
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Page 115
... improvement . In Virginia , according to Ford , " to seat the tract meant to build a house , plant one acre , and ... improvements ; those who could not do this were obliged to pay a quitrent proportioned to the purchase money . " 23 ...
... improvement . In Virginia , according to Ford , " to seat the tract meant to build a house , plant one acre , and ... improvements ; those who could not do this were obliged to pay a quitrent proportioned to the purchase money . " 23 ...
Page 119
... improvements , he could not recover the value of what he had done . In the colonies , however , given the lack of effective govern- ment and reliable records and surveys , authorities had to accept that improvements made on land , taxes ...
... improvements , he could not recover the value of what he had done . In the colonies , however , given the lack of effective govern- ment and reliable records and surveys , authorities had to accept that improvements made on land , taxes ...
Page 120
... improvement ” in ways that heavily benefited squatters . In North Carolina and Virginia , cabin rights or corn rights counted as improvements.1 In Massachusetts , tomahawk rights were included.42 Significantly , incorporating such local ...
... improvement ” in ways that heavily benefited squatters . In North Carolina and Virginia , cabin rights or corn rights counted as improvements.1 In Massachusetts , tomahawk rights were included.42 Significantly , incorporating such local ...
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Common terms and phrases
Adam Smith advanced nations American apartheid areas bell jar bidonvilles buildings capitalist century cities claim associations Claim Clubs colonial Congress create capital dead capital developing and former developing countries economic elites enforce entrepreneurs erty extrale extralegal arrangements extralegal assets extralegal property extralegal sector extralegal social contracts formal law formal property system former communist countries former communist nations fungible global Haiti Hernando de Soto housing Ibid illegal institutions investment land lawyers legal property system legal system live maps Marx ment migrants million miners Mystery of Capital nomic Office organizations owners ownership percent Peru political politicians poor population Port-au-Prince potential preemption procedures production property arrangements property law property rights protect real estate records reform Registry representations Revolution rules Rural settlement settlers social contracts society squatters squatting statutes surplus value Third World tion tomahawk rights transactions United urban West World and former