Summary:

Thomas G. Betz demonstrates that the more or less independently developed approaches of de Soto, Bethell, and Pipes are remarkably similar to the theory formulated by Heinsohn, Stadermann, and Steiger. All six agree that the institution of property is a necessary prerequisite for a genuine economy as well as for freedom and law. There are differences, however: whereas Pipes is especially concerned with property as a precondition of freedom, de Soto focuses on property as a pre-condition of economic development. Bethell (and Pipes) discusses the interplay between property and freedom in history, while Heinsohn, Stadermann, and Steiger emphasise the interrelation of property, interest, and money. In addition, Heinsohn and Steiger’s property analysis of developing and transitional economies is surprisingly similar to the approach developed by de Soto.