About this title: The world-famous Peruvian economist examines why some countries succeed at capitalism while others fail. As evidenced in the development of the West, economic success, he argues, is less determined by cultural differences than by the legal structure of property and property rights. 25 charts & tables.
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Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: 2003-07-08
ISBN-13:9780465016150ISBN:0465016154
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780465016150. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780465016150ISBN:0465016154
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780465016143ISBN:0465016146
Description: New. Slight shelf wear. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Description: Very good. Have marks on ~ 20 pages, otherwise pages are clean and nice, Minor shelf wear. Free deliver confirmation! Satisfaction guaranteed! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780465016143ISBN:0465016146
Description: New in new dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 288 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. New hard cover book with dust jacket. Pristine. In stock. Same/next day shipping. read more
Edition: First Paperback Edition
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Basic Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780465016150ISBN:0465016154
Description: Near Fine. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. pp.275 with index. clean tight copy slight creases to corners. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: 2000-09-05
ISBN-13:9780465016143ISBN:0465016146
Description: Book is collectible. It is signed by the author Hernando De Soto on a special sticker that is on the inside cover page. It is also in clean and tight condition. Thank you! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: 2003-07
ISBN-13:9780465016150ISBN:0465016154
Description: Very Good. New York: Basic Books, 2003. Fourteenth printing. Paperback. 275 pp. Near fine. Very light corner wear. Flex at lower front corner of front cover. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Basic Books
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780465016150ISBN:0465016154
Description: Very Good+ 0465016154. Light wear to cover. Otherwise the book is in perfect condition; text is clean, binding tight. Economics. Pasadena's finest independent new and used bookstore.; 0.63 x 7.95 x 5.28 Inches; 288 pages. read more
"This was a fascinating look at why capitalism has succeeded in the west, but failed in third world and former communist countries. De Soto deduces the ability for all people to have access to legal title for land and property is what has separated the west from nations like Peru, Haiti, Egypt, and so on.
The strength of the book is De Soto's look at the history of American property ownership--an aspect of our history that is often neglected. The weakness of the book is how much of the information and argument is repetitive.
Overall a good book, and one that should be read by those with tendencies toward Marxist ideology as bringing solutions for third world nations."
"Interesting viewpoint arguing that working property rights underpins functioning capitalism. The comparisons between developing regions today and what the US looked liked from 1840-1860 is quite interesting. Overall, worth reading that section. The book can get a little repetitive on its stance, but does make some interest arguments. There is a little hand waving on how to implement the changes and good examples of how that may be happening today, the political reaction, and the populous movements."
"This book explains the importance of property rights to the success of capitalist systems. In order for a society to use its assets to their fullest potential, it needs a legal system that transforms wealth into "living capital." "Living capital" can be leveraged to create further wealth: for example, in the U.S. most new enterprises are funded by mortgages on the entrepreneur's home. But in a society that does not clearly define and protect ownership, such strategies are impossible. This explains why market-type economies have brought enormous wealth to Western countries, but have failed to do so in most of Latin America, Africa, and the former Soviet block. The poor in those regions lack access to formal property systems. Regulations and red tape stop them from legally owning their land or starting a business. Consequently, huge "informal sectors" have developed in these countries - markets and neighborhoods buzzing with extra-legal activity. This activity will not lead to large-scale growth and development, however, because the size of markets are limited to the networks where individuals can develop trust and reciprocity, and because extra-legal businesses need to keep a low profile, preventing them from realizing economies of scale. The poor are left frustrated by the growing economic disparity between themselves and the fortunate few who live inside the "bell jar" of formal property rights, where capital creates wealth. This narrative, De Soto claims, describes struggling economies around the world, from Morocco to Peru. He repeatedly rejects the idea that economic performance is determined primarily by cultural factors. Experience shows that capitalism can succeed in diverse cultures, and the phenomena of failing capitalism are the same in countries with no common cultural heritage. Instead of turning to sociological details - such as colonization or religious philosophy - De Soto attributes poverty and the growth of the informal sector to a universal human characteristic: rational, maximizing behavior. The solution to failing capitalism and the growth of the informal sector, therefore, is the same throughout the third world. Governments need to lift the bell jar by creating coherent and inclusive property systems. It is a transformation that took place in the West only a few centuries ago, and Hernando De Soto spends some time in The Mystery of Capital describing how the United States' property system developed. However, property rights are not an alien concept which third world governments must force on unwilling citizens. Informal sectors already try to clarify and protect ownership. Recreating property law involves adopting and integrating the laws and customs that the informal sector has already developed. The most intriguing concept in The Mystery of Capital is capital's metaphysical nature. Although we may associate capital with money, capital is not something that we perceive with our senses. Rather, capital has to do with the potential value of an asset, and is something that we perceive with our minds. Property law is the symbolic system that unleashes economic growth. De Soto's prose becomes near-mystical when he writes about capital's transcendent nature, and he compares property systems to other symbolic systems that have empowered humans over the course of history, from musical notation to computer software. It is by our ability to create and manipulate symbolic systems that we can "soar into the future.""
"This is an excellent book by economist Hernando De Soto. His main thesis is that developing nations have trillions of dollars in untapped capital in property that far exceeds the amount that they have received in development aid. Adapting laws to accomodate informal property ownership arrangements that have already been made (as was done in the West long ago) will allow the utilization of this capital by the poor. This new capital will allow the poor to become players in the capitalist system.
Some interesting ideas/points that De Soto makes are: 1) Money and capital are used synonymously, but are very different. Over the last century, our solution for global development has been to throw money and this has yielded unsubstantial progress. Money inherently is a finite economic stimulator. It purchases goods and the the duration of its efficacy is determined by the lasting impact of the purchased item. Capital on the other hand is different. Capital is durable and can take on a life of its own and be used as collateral for other business transactions. This is what's been realized over the last couple decades with the success of microfinance in which small loans provide capital to scale up microbusinesses. De Soto, however, is not referring to microfinance, which is still coming from an extrinsic source. Instead, De Soto argues that what's needed to end poverty is already in developing countries. The solutions lie in the untapped value of extralegal property arrangements made among the entrepreneuristic poor. 2) Formalization of extralegal property arrangements is a win-win situation for countries. The poor obviously benefit because now they have collateral to enter the capitalist business system. The value of the poor's assets is no longer just the land, but all the added value that the poor can now garner. Governments win, as tax revenues increase. Businesses win as demand for their products increase since access to credit is augmented. Society wins since mafias/gangsters/terrorists lose their stranglehold operating in the extralegal sector. Now that farmers can plant long-term cash crops without fear of losing their land, there is less incentive to grow quick cash crops such as opium. Since individuals are now tied to concrete addresses, law enforcement becomes easier. 3) Lawyers impede the progress the process of formalization of extralegal property. In 10 pages that seemed to come out of nowhere, De Soto lambasts lawyers for their insidious resistance to change. De Soto states "The difficulty is that few lawyers understand the economic consequences of their work, and their knee-jerk reaction to extralegal behavior and to large-scale change is generally hostile. All the reformers I have met working to make property more accessible to the poor operate with the presumption that the legal progession is their natural enemy." He argues that lawyers are too committed to having life fit law rather than the other way around. De Soto argues that advocacy for the poor has been monopolized by academics, journalists, and activists, when in fact lawyers are a necessary partner in reform since they work on the nuts and bolts of the process.
Some other ideas that he evokes are: 1) De Soto states that we get distracted by invoking culture as a reason for the success of capitalism here and not elsewhere. The poor in developing nations are just as hard-working and entrepreneuristic as anyone in the West. 2) Debates become too dogmatic between capitalism and communism. Those are the old battles, he argues. We need to focus on what's important now: how to lift the poor out of poverty. And his solution is difficult to pigeonhole into either capitalistic or marxist camps. 3) We revere capitalism now, but a significant portion of the world hates it. They see the correlation between the rise of capitalism and increasing poverty and see a causation. In fact, after the Great Depression, capitalism was on the brink of collapse. What we perceive as the only system that can work economically was once pretty close to shuttiing down. Pure capitalism is inherently bound to fail because you concentrate wealth in the hands of a few, which means that the majority is bound to revolt. De Soto would argue that one of the reasons that capitalism has operated so well in the West is because of property arrangements that help to curtail civil unrest for the reasons discussed above.
In terms of writing style, the middle of the book is a bit dry and repetitive, but the beginning and end of the book makes compelling points. De soto is a bit philosophical and possibly overly theoretical. I would like to see follow-up data for this book (published in 2000) to see how much economies of developing countries can improve by formalizing extralegal arrangements.
Overall, an excellent read with a very fresh, yet logical, idea."
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