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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elroy Jetson who wrote (9448)	9/19/2006 3:28:11 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217842

However, Hernando De Soto does make these sort of claims for his belief in privatizing community property. And of course his prescription rarely provides the benefits he claims in the real world. He has interesting ideas which he has over-sold, becoming a snake oil salesman like Milton Friedman. Here's an essay from Slate which expands on this. And I think, in part, he has recognized that part of the solution is assisting the poor to become property owners, rather than mere renters, or squatters. Because as Larry Summers so aptly put it: "In the history of the world, no one has ever washed a rented car." - Lawrence Summers But what Slate fails to mention is that De Soto spends a great deal of time stating that the moneyed elites shelter themselves behind a Byzantine bureaucratic and legal bastion that makes it nearly impossible for anyone, but the most determined and financially stable, individual to actually license their property, or establish their business. He stated on Page 18 that he and his research team implemented a test to see how long it would require someone to open up a small garment business outside of Lima, Peru with only one employee. The result was that it required 6 hours a day for 269 days, with each of those hours dedicated to forming this one-person business before they obtained a government permit to operate. And the final cost for this permit was over $1,300.. All for a small garment workshop wtih one employee. Additionally, he mentions on that page, and provides a detailed outline, that to obtain permission to build a home on state-owned land 207 steps, conducted within five phases over 6 years, and requiring the involvment of over 52 government offices... To actually obtain legal title to that land would require 728 steps. THAT'S the kind of "red tape" that the established oligarchs utilize to prevent the poor from gaining access to the markets. And De Soto recognizes this problem and that it requires a legal, and political solution. He believes that people must be convinced that everyone will benefit if these ded assets are unlocked and people's productivity realized. I think you should go straight to the source Elroy.. Forget what Slate says and see exactly what De Soto is saying. And I ain't saying his proposals are perfect. But they are far more realistic and reflective of the actual reality, than most others. Hawk