Book of the Month- The Mystery of Capital

 

The events of past few weeks has made the reading of this interesting book draged for awhile but I finally finished reading it and I'm to happy to share my thoughts on it.

This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in property ownership and whoever is keen in ending poverty chain. In a simple language it showcased how an average person can use their properties to generate further wealth.

Mr. Hernando De Soto analyzed the problems associated with lands in the third world, the solutions to end this from the part of government, the developed nations and the citizens themselves.

He honestly described how many nations especially third world like Nigeria can improve the lots of the poor by creating an enabling environment and policies that will help them in upholding private properties.

He sincerely answered some of the critical questions on why capitalism triumph in the west but failed almost everywhere, he wasn’t afraid to draw our attention to the Peru’s land property situation (his home country).

This book contains seven incisive chapters which drew my attention to some of the things I never knew that could cause turmoil to peace and prosperity even in the developed world.

My memorable moments(issues) in the book

“Since the nineteenth century, nations have been copying the laws of the west t give citizens the institutional framework to produce wealth. They continue to copy such laws today, and, obviously, it doesn’t work. Most citizens still cannot use the law to convert their saving into capital. Why this is so and what is needed the law work remain a mystery” –page 13

Lesson learnt-don’t follow the trend apply your solutions to fix your peculiar issues”

"Poor people are edgy about losing their property because urbanization and industrialization are creating demand for land, in a country in which ownership is an extremely murky business. Only 7% of the land of the Indonesian archipelago has a clear owner.

Inevitably, there is a large trade in both genuine and forged certificates. People trying to buying to buy parcels of land sometimes find numerous apparent owners. And banks are very wary of accepting land collateral for loans.”

Lesson learnt-this situation is not only synonymous to Indonesian Archipelago, this is also happening in Lagos, Nigeria. Please when buying a parcel of land, get information from the appropriate government agencies for clarification”

          “Once reformers have the poor and at least some of the elite on their side, it will be time to take on the public and private bureaucracy who administer and maintain the status quo- principally, the lawyers and the technicians.” –page 209

- “They forgot that people are fundamental agents of change and they forgot to focus on the poor” –page 224

Lesson learnt- any sane society must always carry the largest percentage of the her masses (the poor) along in any meaningful policies.

About the Author

Hernando de Soto is a Peruvian, he is the founder and president of the Institute of Liberty and democracy (ILD) in Lima. He is regarded as the second most think-tank in the world.

Mr. de Soto was named as a finalist to receive the Nobel Prize for Finance in 2002. Time magazine has named de Soto one of the five leading Latin American innovators of the century.

 

I recommend this great book for you, I'm very sure you'll love it. It is written in simple english and it's easy to comprehend.

Enjoy your reading!