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

Resource information

Date of publication: 
December 2000
Resource Language: 
ISBN / Resource ID: 
MLRF:1963
Pages: 
288
Copyright details: 
Basic Books

"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 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 informal, extralegal ownership to a formal, unified legal property system. 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.

Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s): 

de Soto, Hernando

Publisher(s): 

Since its founding in 1952, Basic Books has shaped public debate by publishing award-winning books in history, science, sociology, psychology, politics, and current affairs. Basic Books also publishes new works in African and African-American studies under the Basic Civitas imprint.  Basic's list of influential authors includes Isaac Asimov, Zbigniew Brzezinski, William F.

Data provider

The purpose of the Mekong Land Research Forum online site is to provide structured access to published and unpublished research on land issues in the Mekong Region. It is based on the premise that debates and decisions around land governance can be enhanced by drawing on the considerable volume of research, documented experience and action-based reflection that is available.

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