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 21
... officially listed as rental housing . To where did that market van- ish ? To the extralegal areas of Brazilian cities ... official legal system , ad hoc improvisations , and customs brought from their FIGURE 2.2 Procedure to formalize ...
... officially listed as rental housing . To where did that market van- ish ? To the extralegal areas of Brazilian cities ... official legal system , ad hoc improvisations , and customs brought from their FIGURE 2.2 Procedure to formalize ...
Page 144
... official law . Lacy points out that the district regulations " reflected the accumulated wisdom and customs ... of the Stannary Convo- cations of the tin miners of Cornwall ; the High Peak District prac- tices and the Barmote Court of ...
... official law . Lacy points out that the district regulations " reflected the accumulated wisdom and customs ... of the Stannary Convo- cations of the tin miners of Cornwall ; the High Peak District prac- tices and the Barmote Court of ...
Page 181
... official titles did not exist . Before the fifteenth century in Europe , for example , even though some iso- lated registries did exist in some parts of what is today Germany , most official rules on how property transactions ought to ...
... official titles did not exist . Before the fifteenth century in Europe , for example , even though some iso- lated registries did exist in some parts of what is today Germany , most official rules on how property transactions ought to ...
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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