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

Here's an argument for individual rights, openness and equality before the law:

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

De Soto is a Peruvian economist that tackles one of the oldest mysteries: how can societies unlock their human potential? The answer, as he argues, lies in individual rights and a predictable, open legal system. Which the third world poor lack.

But how do you establish such a thing? De Soto's central idea is that the poor need titles for their often informally owned land and property. If you have legal title, you can get loans, and grow economically with that capital. But obtaining titles to some of these holdings would be fraught with controversy and entanglement....

This book is more of a thought piece and critics have noted De Soto's lack of empirical data in his work. But it's an interesting idea and ideas have to start somewhere.