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In this, his classic book on the informal economy of Peru and the reasons why poverty can be a breeding ground for terrorists, Hernando De Soto describes the forces that keep people dependent on underground economies: the bureaucratic barriers to legal property ownership and the lack of legal structures that recognize and encourage ownership of assets. It is exactly these forces, de Soto argues, that prevent houses, land, and machines from functioning as capital does in the West--as assets that can be leveraged to create more capital. Under the Fujimori government, de Soto's Institute for Liberty and Democracy wrote dozens of laws to promote property rights and bring people out of the informal economy and into the legitimate one. The result was not only an economic boon for Peru but also the defeat of the Shining Path, the terrorist movement and black-market force that was then threatening to take over the Peruvian government. In a new preface, de Soto relates his work to the present moment, making the connection between the Shining Path in the 1980's and the Taliban today.
Ingram
Altering the way we perceive underdeveloped countries, this revolutionary volume focuses on Lima, Peru, and how its internal economies and political alliances function. De Soto also describes the surprising and revolutionary world of the "informals," those who work outside the law to achieve their goals. 24 pages of photographs.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Devastating Critique of Centrally Planned Economies,
By
This review is from: The Other Path (Paperback)
The original version of this book was written in the mid-80's to offer the people and government of Peru specific suggestions to combat Sendero Luminoso by making it possible for ordinary people to have a productive and meaningful participation in the nation's economy. This new printing includes a preface written in 2002 that provides the context and history for non-Peruvian readers and gives some analysis of the successes of the suggested reforms under the Fujimori government.The first part of the book is a detailed analysis of three sectors of the Peruvian economy: housing, transport, and trade (small manufacturing and retail primarily). In each of these, De Soto demonstrates how the barriers raised by regulation and legal process from both right and left wing governments in Peru have forced the majority of persons participating to do so in informal/illegal ways. The result is that formal activity bears the brunt of taxation and informals have little protection in terms of property rights, contractual instruments, and so on. The net result is that everyone is impoverished. This section of the book can be tough reading because of the amount of detail, but its necessary in order to understand the importance of the second half. The second half suggests that the Peruvian situation is really the reemergence of mercantilism, not a market economy. De Soto then provides some suggestions to peacefully transitiont to a market economy, and convincing warnings that failure to do so will almost certainly result in a violent transition. The points that De Soto makes are increasingly significant to non-Peruvians as societies like America have increasingly centralised economies. Ironically, the cover includes blurbs from both Presidents Bush and Clinton. One suspects that netiher of them actually read the book.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Agreed -- would have been better first,
By
This review is from: The Other Path: The Invisible Revolution in the Third World (Hardcover)
I agree that this book would have been more interesting if read before Mystery, but now the mystery is gone.This is good stuff just the same. Lots of good points that are useful in a classroom.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really worth 4.5 Stars,
By "rolihlahla82" (Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Other Path (Paperback)
I enjoyed this book but was spoiled because I first read "The Mystery of Capital" and then this. This book's stats are somewhat outdated because so much has happened in the last 15-20 years, which takes away from the crispness of the argument, but the argument is still apparent and sound. Although I agree that eliminating government red tape to let more people become a part of the economic system and therefore become plugged into the benefits of the system (eg, a legal work address for customers to reach you at, legal recognition so to advertise, etc.) and thereby allow government to collect more taxes so to (hopefully) put more money toward fighting social problems; I hope de Soto agrees that the economic answer to terroism is not the only answer. Stregthening the economic infrastructure is a strong part of the answer, but much more is also needed for some people to not desire to kill other people, and that may be something which can never be had. Although I would say "The Mystery of Capital" is a must read, this is nonetheless a great supplement to "The Mystery of Capital".
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