The Mystery Of Capital Why Capitalism Succeeds In The West And Fails Everywhere Else"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 the question that, more than any other, is central to one of the most crucial problems 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 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 informal, extralegal ownership to a formal, unified legal property system, but in the West we've forgotten that creating this system is also what allowed people everywhere to leverage property into wealth. This persuasive book will revolutionize our understanding of capital and point the way to a major transformation of the world economy. |
From inside the book
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Page 171
... Social Contract Extralegal social contracts on property underpin nearly all prop- erty systems and are part of the reality of every country , even in today's United States . As Richard Posner has reminded us , prop- erty is socially ...
... Social Contract Extralegal social contracts on property underpin nearly all prop- erty systems and are part of the reality of every country , even in today's United States . As Richard Posner has reminded us , prop- erty is socially ...
Page 172
... social contracts that determine existing property rights . The prob- lem , of course , is that these social contracts are dispersed through- out hundreds of extralegal jurisdictions in scattered villages and city neighborhoods . The ...
... social contracts that determine existing property rights . The prob- lem , of course , is that these social contracts are dispersed through- out hundreds of extralegal jurisdictions in scattered villages and city neighborhoods . The ...
Page 176
... social contracts even stronger than formal law to fend off intruders , especially the government . Anyone doubting the strength of social contracts has only to challenge some of these extralegal rights . The resistance will be most ...
... social contracts even stronger than formal law to fend off intruders , especially the government . Anyone doubting the strength of social contracts has only to challenge some of these extralegal rights . The resistance will be most ...
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Common terms and phrases
Adam Smith advanced nations American apartheid areas bell jar build CALIFORNIA/SANTA CRUZ capitalist century cities claim associations Claim Clubs colonial Congress create capital CRUZ The University dead capital developing and former 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 housing Ibid institutions investment land lawyers legal property system legal system maps Marx ment Michel Foucault migrants million miners nomic Office organizations owners ownership percent Peru political politicians poor population Port-au-Prince potential preemption production property arrangements property law property rights protect real estate records reform Registry representations Revolution rules Rural settlement settlers social contracts squatters squatting statutes surplus value Third World tion tomahawk rights transactions United University Library UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA/SANTA urban West World and former