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 91
... land titles . " All records and documents in the old land register , which showed that a land belonged to this or that tribe , have been burned , " Colonel Gadhafi reportedly informed a meeting of his justice ministry . " They were ...
... land titles . " All records and documents in the old land register , which showed that a land belonged to this or that tribe , have been burned , " Colonel Gadhafi reportedly informed a meeting of his justice ministry . " They were ...
Page 125
... lands , could not do its job . Charged with confirming land patents sent in from the district offices , the new federal agency also had to oversee the record keeping of purchases made on credit . Lawmakers hoped that the Land Office ...
... lands , could not do its job . Charged with confirming land patents sent in from the district offices , the new federal agency also had to oversee the record keeping of purchases made on credit . Lawmakers hoped that the Land Office ...
Page 126
... land scrip emerged that fueled both squatting and speculation . For every hundred soldiers who received land scrip , eighty - four sold their rights in the black market — a situation not unlike the one that occurs today in many ...
... land scrip emerged that fueled both squatting and speculation . For every hundred soldiers who received land scrip , eighty - four sold their rights in the black market — a situation not unlike the one that occurs today in many ...
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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