The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere ElseA renowned economist argues for the importance of property rights in "the most intelligent book yet written about the current challenge of establishing capitalism in the developing world" (Economist) "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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... economies of those countries who have hitherto not been able to make capitalism work for their people. . . . [It] explains how economies fail that have not first created the vital legal structures nor let the 'black' economy come into ...
... economies of those countries who have hitherto not been able to make capitalism work for their people. . . . [It] explains how economies fail that have not first created the vital legal structures nor let the 'black' economy come into ...
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... economic development.” —Ronald Coase, Nobel Laureate in Economics “De Soto demolishes the entire edifice of postwar development economics, and replaces it with the answers bright young people everywhere have been demanding. . . . [The ...
... economic development.” —Ronald Coase, Nobel Laureate in Economics “De Soto demolishes the entire edifice of postwar development economics, and replaces it with the answers bright young people everywhere have been demanding. . . . [The ...
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... economy of the time? —Fernand Braudel, The Wheels of Commerce The hour of capitalism's greatest triumph is its hour ... economic suffering, tumbling incomes, anxiety, and resentment; of “starving, rioting, and looting,” in the stinging ...
... economy of the time? —Fernand Braudel, The Wheels of Commerce The hour of capitalism's greatest triumph is its hour ... economic suffering, tumbling incomes, anxiety, and resentment; of “starving, rioting, and looting,” in the stinging ...
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... economic and political disaster. For Americans enjoying both peace and prosperity, it has been all too easy to ignore the turmoil elsewhere. How can capitalism be in trouble when the Dow Jones Industrial average is climbing higher than ...
... economic and political disaster. For Americans enjoying both peace and prosperity, it has been all too easy to ignore the turmoil elsewhere. How can capitalism be in trouble when the Dow Jones Industrial average is climbing higher than ...
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... economic historian Karl Polanyi's warnings that free markets can collide with society and lead to fascism. Japan is ... economy policies. These remedies are clearly not enough. Indeed, they fall so far short as to be almost irrelevant ...
... economic historian Karl Polanyi's warnings that free markets can collide with society and lead to fascism. Japan is ... economy policies. These remedies are clearly not enough. Indeed, they fall so far short as to be almost irrelevant ...
Contents
1 | |
15 | |
C H A P T E R T H R E E The Mystery of Capital | 39 |
C H A P T E R F O U R The Mystery of Political Awareness | 69 |
C HAP T E R F I V E The Missing Lessons of US History | 105 |
C H A P T E R S I X The Mystery of Legal Failure | 153 |
C HAP T E R S EV E N By Way of Conclusion | 207 |
Notes | 229 |
Acknowledgments | 241 |
Appendix | 249 |
Index | 259 |
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Common terms and phrases
advanced nations American apartheid areas assets bell jar buildings capitalist 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 property extralegal sector extralegal social contracts formal law formal property system former communist countries former communist nations fungible global Haiti Hernando de Soto Ibid illegal industrial institutions investment land lawyers legal property system legal system live maps Marx ment Michel Foucault migrants million miners Mystery of Capital nomic official law organizations owners ownership people’s percent Peru political politicians poor population Port-au-Prince potential preemption problem production property arrangements property law property rights protect real estate records reform Revolution rules Rural settlement settlers social contracts society squatters squatting surplus value Third World tion tomahawk rights Total transactions undercapitalized United urban West World and former