The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else

by Hernando De Soto

Paperback, 2003

Status

Available

Call number

HB501 S778

Genres

Publication

Basic Books (2003), Edition: 1st, Paperback, 288 pages

Description

A 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.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Ramirez

Thesis: Poor are worse off because they don't have a proper system of legal property and judicial courts.

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LibraryThing member br77rino

This is a great book on the power of capitalism, and how its use outside the 'first world' is missing a key ingredient, namely, the legal right and acknowledgement of private property.

LibraryThing member sagacious33

Before I read this book I hadn't really thought about the legal and social structures that allow for economic development. It turns out, as was later reinforced to me in university, property rights are a key instrument in setting the stage for economic growth. This book not only highlights global

legal property right deficiencies, but also investigates in depth the steps it could take to provide the legal foundations required to begin pulling the third world out of poverty. Why not four stars? It is missing some of the "exciting read" factors needed to make a book competitive in today's fast media culture.

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LibraryThing member ShadowBarbara

Excellent overview of how we use property to create capital and how most of the world does not have a system for documenting ownership. Most people live in an extralegal system. Has recommendations for changing the systems so that real capitalism can work.

LibraryThing member Indrit

I have had the privilege of obtaining a copy of this book signed by Hernando de Soto himself, whom I met back in 2006 while attending training at his Institute for Liberty and Democracy in Lima. I not only have read this book: I was also a part of a joint policy research program led by de Soto and

his team that implemented a reform on property rights in Albania based on the very theories that de Soto puts forward in the book. They are bold and require the right mix of factors to succeed and have a lasting impact. So I can count among those who have tested or put his theory in practice. It is an important book, enriching and fascinating to read, as well as well researched and written. I am also proud to have contributed to editing its translation into Albanian.

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