The Mystery of Capital

Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else

By: Hernando de Soto

Narrated by: Bob Souer

A renowned economist's classic book on capitalism in the developing world, showing how property rights are the key to overcoming poverty.

"The hour of capitalism's greatest triumph," writes Hernando de Soto, "is, in the eyes of four-fifths of humanity, its hour of crisis." In The Mystery of Capital, the world-famous Peruvian economist takes up one of the most pressing questions the world faces today: Why do some countries succeed at capitalism while others fail?

In strong opposition to the popular view that success is determined by cultural differences, de Soto finds that it actually has everything to do with the legal structure of property and property rights. Every developed nation in the world at one time went through the transformation from predominantly extralegal property arrangements, such as squatting on large estates, to a formal, unified legal property system. In the West, we've forgotten that creating this system is what allowed people everywhere to leverage property into wealth. This persuasive book revolutionized our understanding of capital and points the way to a major transformation of the world economy.

©2000 Hernando de Soto (P)2019 Tantor

The Mystery of Capital

Very comprehensive and requisite reading for everyone. This book unequivocally puts wealth creation in proper context.

amazing book

must read and will be at the top of books I recommend to many people

Very informative book

Very informative book that explains the inner workings of capitalism and why it works so well where the property system has been well integrated with society in general, ie. western countries and a few others. It explains it in a way that even those who live in such societies never think about it due to it being almost taken for granted and second nature.

This is a must read.

I you want to know why Capitalism works for some and not others this is your book. The author is somewhat redundant but he gives many excellent examples to provide a convincing argument on how property rights are the foundation of western success.

Good global perspective on Capitalism

This book made me think deeper in terms of importance of capital generation, underlying societal/legal roadblocks and how it impacts wealth creation.

It ties in well with the saying - Everything that glitters is not gold or perhaps will remain or generate further gold!

Memorable and Impactful

This is a truly wonderful must read book. The genius of Hernando De Soto oozes out of every page of this seminal work.

Do yourself a massive favour and read this book NOW!!!!

Gives great insight into modern web3/nft opportunities

This is one of those books that puts a finger on a concept that we all know exists, but wouldn't be able to easily put into words.

Factoring in modern tech and business landscape compared to that at time of writing (~2002), shows the global significance and opportunity of nft markets, web3, and blockchain tech as a whole.

A way to keep the republic?!

I find the ideas and information in this book fascinating.
As an immigrant from former USSR it is disheartening for me to watch a massive move away from appreciating United States as a land of opportunity and a miracle born from American revolution. Just compare the outcome of Russian revolution to understand what I mean.

I am not an economist and simply wondering if more people in US should use the ideas in this book to assess how they can create and use private property to become financially secure. "To expand the limits of the Bell Jar."

buy this book

one of the best books I've ever read, serious attention only for best results. keys to change your life and impact the world in this book.

great book

very informative and eye opening book, good read if you like understanding how things work.