"Listening to barking dogs: property law against poverty in the non-West" by Hernando De Soto, a development economist, is an article outlining the various problems that "plague the poor" of former communist and developing countries (De Soto,2003,p179). De Soto (2003) believes that the main solution to elevate the poor out of poverty is providing these populations with formal and legalised property rights. Enabling their dead capital hidden in un-formalised and illegal property or other small businesses and enterprises to be transformed into live capital, allowing these assets to be used as security as well as collateral to aid further loans and generate additional surplus of their existing assets lifting them out of poverty. Conversely despite De Soto's hugely influential ideas to fix poverty, even becoming the president of Peru's Institute for liberty and democracy , "scholar after scholar has pointed out that his work is :methodologically weak" (Gilbert,2000,p348). Throughout this essay the article "Listening to barking dogs: property law against poverty in the non-West" and other work and ideas by Hernando De Soto will be critically analysed examining the importance and purpose of his ideas and the realistic effects De Soto's policies could have in overcoming the various challenges that developing and former communist countries face against poverty.
De Soto (2003) claims that the main instrument causing poverty in third world and former soviet union countries is the lack of a legalised property system, claiming that eighty percent of these populations do not have any legal documentations to prove the assets they own. This differs greatly from the economically successful Western world. Furthermore De Soto (2003) ignores the c...
... middle of paper ...
...ndo de Soto and the mystification of capital, Eurozine
• Kingwill R et al. (2006) Mysteries and myths: de Soto, property and poverty in South Africa, GateKeeper Series 124, London: International Institute for Environment and Development.
• Mitchell T (2005) The work of economics: how a discipline makes its world, Arch. Europ. Social., XLVI, 2: 297-320
• Musembi C (2007) De Soto and land relations in rual Africa: breathing life into dead theories about property rights, Third World Quarterly 28(8): 1457-1478.
• Otto J (2009) Rule of law promotion, land tenure and poverty alleviation: questioning the assumptions of Hernando de Soto, Hague Journal on the Rule of Law 1: 173-195.
• United Nations Development Programme (2008) Making the Law Work for Everyone vol. 1, Report of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, New York: UNDP
Brue, S. L., Flynn, S. M., & McConnell, C. R. (2011).Economics principles, problems and policies. (19 ed.). New
Nozick introduces his theory by calling a “minimal state” (Nozick 149) the only justifiable state that does not infringe on the rights of the people living in this state. Nozick as a libertarian, believes in the freedom of the individual over all else., Nozick says, “There is no one natural dimension or weighted sum or combination of a small number of natural dimensions that yields the distributions generated in accordance with the principle of entitlement”(Nozick 157). The patterns, upon which certain sections argue for the distribution of wealth, such as poverty etc., do not impress Nozick at all. Continuing the belief of individual freedom over all else, Nozick then presents his entitlement theory, which advocates that all of one’s possessions sho...
Gaynor Ellis, Elisabeth, and Anthony Esler. ""New Economic Thinking"" World History: The Modern Era. Prentice Hall. 186. Print.
Smith, Adam. "CHAPTER XI OF THE RENT OF LAND." An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Oxford: Clarendon, 1976. 161. Print.
maintain a system of inequality fortified by the law that protects their prosperity while forcing
In addition to low earnings, the prime reason for the inability to increase funds and thus increase security of income is that profits or potential savings are often pocketed by moneylenders who charge lofty interest rates, by formal and informal regulatory and enforcement agents/organizations who demand bribes or extort protection money, and by middlemen or other stronger business partners who exploit the poor because they lack market information or the ability to use the market information to increase their own incomes. Another key that prevents the poor from raising capital is that they are often forced to purchase public goods and services at a much higher cost that are readily available to other groups in society at market or below market prices(6).
Van Dervort, T. (2000). American Law and the Legal System: Equal Justice under the Law. (2nd
Landes, D., 1999. The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 38-59
Throughout the existence of man debates over property and inequality have always existed. Man has been trying to reach the perfect state of society for as long as they have existed. John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Martin Luther King are three great examples of men who broke down the basics of how property and inequality are related. Each historical figure has their own distinct view on the situation. Some views are similar while others vary greatly. These philosophers and seekers of peace and equality make many great arguments as to how equality and property can impact man and society. Equality and property go hand in hand in creating an equal society. Each authors opinion has its own factors that create a mindset to support that opinion. In this paper we will discuss the writings of John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Martin Luther King Jr. and the factors that influenced their opinions on inequality and property.
The Kenneth. Economics in Perspective: A Critical History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987. Weatherford, Jack. A.
The 2008 documentary The End of Poverty? is a film that focuses around global poverty and how it became the tragedy that it is today. Poverty was created by acts of military conquest, slavery and colonization that led to the confiscation of individual’s property and forced labor. However, today the problem remains because wealthy countries who take advantage of developing third world countries. The film interviews several activists who discuss how the issues became and several ways in which they could be eliminated, as well as interviews from individuals who are experiencing it firsthand.
Distributive Property or distributive justice is the economic framework of a society that asserts the rightful allocations of property among its citizens. Due to the limited amount of resources that is provided in a society, the question of proper distribution often occurs. The ideal answer is that public assets should be reasonably dispersed so that every individual receives what constitutes as a “justified share”; here is where the conflict arises. The notion of just distribution, however, is generally disagreed upon as is the case with Robert Nozick and John Rawls. These men have different takes on how property should be justly distributed. Nozick claims that any sort of patterned distribution of wealth is inequitable and that this ultimately reduces individual liberty. Rawls on the other hand, prioritizes equality over a diverse group where the distribution of assets among a community should be in the favor of the least advantaged. The immediate difference between the two is that both men have separate ideas on the legitimacy of governmental redistribution of resources; however I intend to defend Nozick’s theory by pointing out significant weaknesses in Rawls’s proposition.
Formal and Informal sector intersect when the subject relates opportunity costs enforcing the cost-benefit approach. Legalist perspective suggests that formalization is the mechanism to protect business and property rights, creating capital, raise productivity and attract investments. De Soto (2000) argues that the real estate value is worth of USD 9.3 trillion in the Third World countries that exceeds any kind of donation and loans from the developed world. We witness the unique “entrepreneurial ingenuity” that the poor created in the developing world. Although, it is a dead capital which cannot be used for economic development, unless treated properly. De Soto claims that the higher formalization, the more potential exists to accumulate wealth and decrease the poverty rate. The concept that he considers crucial generating capital flow is the “surplus value” created by the formalization and property rights. Assets’ economic potential must be fixed in order to initiate additional production. Assets must be integrated into one formal representational system; that is how the West succeeded in capitalist realm. In 1849, California, the Congress gradually integrated the informal property created by immigrants and miners . Thus, benefits from the company perspective of operating formally are as follows: limited liability not risking the whole property of the business/owner; enforceable commercial contracts, enabling business entities insure rights and obligations to be met; access to finance and market information, legalised and registered entities benefit from the trust of financial institutions; access to government incentives, including procurement tenders and export promotion policies; access to public infrastructure and services; ...
Tragakes, E. (2012). Economics for the IB diploma (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
The crucial importance and relevance of economics related disciplines to the modern world have led me to want to pursue the study of these social sciences at a higher level. My study of Economics has shown me the fundamental part it plays in our lives and I would like to approach it with an open mind - interested but not yet fully informed.