Overview

Beautifully and clearly written, this is a radical solution to the failure of capitalism in four-fifths of the world. Why does capitalism triumph in the West but fail almost everywhere else? Elegantly, and with rare clarity, Hernando de Soto revolutionizes our understanding of what capital is and why it has failed to benefit four-fifths of mankind -- and explains the solution. 'A revolutionary book . . . may not be in the class of Das Kapital, Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations or Keynes's General Theory. But if the criteria for joining that exclusive club is a capacity not only to change permanently the way we look at the world, but also to change the world itself, then there are good grounds for thinking that this book is surely a contender.' Donald Macintyre, The Independent 'Few people in Britain have heard of Hernando de Soto . . . but The Mystery of Capital has already led the cognoscenti to put him in the pantheon of great progressive intellectuals of our age.' Mark Leonard, New Statesman 'A crucial contribution. A new proposal for change that is valid for the whole world' - Javier Perez de Cuellar (Former Secretary United Nations)

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Reviews

'A hugely persuasive and important book, the more so because of the moving simplicity of its central idea' Daily Telegraph 'A crucial contribution. A new proposal for change that is valid for the whole world' -- Javier Perez De Cuellar, Ex Sect.General Of The Un 'A very great book...powerful and completely convincing' -- Ronald Coase, Nobel Laureate In Economics 'One of the few new and genuinely promising approaches to overcoming poverty to come in a long time' -- Francis Fukuyama, Author Of The End Of History 'A revolutionary book...if the criterion is a capacity not only to change permanently the way we look at the world, but also to change the world itself, then there are good grounds for thinking that this book is surely a contender...thrillingly subvesive' -- Donald McIntyre Independent

Economics is a slippery business. Economist's predictions are as much black art as science, and the dynamics of the modern world are such that both the pace of change and the unpredictability of what may happen seem to increase as one watches. One thing is clear, however, the world is sharply divided into rich and poor. Capitalism seems only to help the rich get richer and the poor in less developed countries continue to suffer. This book is a manifesto for world wide economic change. The author is the founder of the Institute of Liberty and Democracy in Peru, an advisor to that country's President, and has involvements across the globe. His findings about the situation of the world's poorer people, for example their collective ownership of significant amounts of property - especially land - suggest a way to change the inherent difference between rich and poor. Capitalism can be brought to bear on the problem and made to work in countries currently struggling separately to join the capitalist mainstream. The theories presented here are certainly interesting and doubtless sincere, but there is something of a 'magic formula' to the author's approach, a view that seems to suggest that it is all so easy if only we - the world- does the logical thing. The problems, and not the least the vested interests, of a world where for a significant minority power and money go together, and where self interest outranks anything else, seem to be viewed as matters that can almost be changed at a stroke. The arguments presented here may be valuable to a debate that will continue for a long while; however, realistically, they will not change the world overnight. (Kirkus UK)

A revolutionary book... Independent. A very great book...powerful and completely convincing. Ronald Coase, Nobel Laureate in Economics; Remarkable...no less than the blueprint for the new industrial revolution The Times. A hugely persuasive and important book, the more so because of the moving simplicity of it's central idea Telegraph. One of the few new and genuinely promising approaches to overcoming poverty to come along in a long time Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History. A crucial contribution. A new proposal for change that is valid for the whole world. Javier Perez de Cuellar, former secretary-general of The United Nations.

Author Information

Hernando de Soto is the founder and President of the Institute of Liberty and Democracy (ILD) in Lima, Peru, regarded by The Economist as the second most important think-tank in the world. He has also been an economist for GATT (now WTO), CEO of one of Europe's largest engineering firms, and as a governor of Peru's Central Reserve Bank. As President Alberto Fujimori's Personal Representative and Principal Advisor, he initiated Peru's economic reforms and played a leading role in modernizing its economic and political system. In 1993 de Soto drew up and negotiated the strategic plan that reversed Fujimori's coup d'etat and returned the country to electoral democracy. He and ILD are currently working in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America on the practical implementation of the measures for bringing the poor into the economic mainstream introduced in The Mystery of Capital. He was recently listed by Time magazine as one of the five leading Latin American innovators of the twentieth century. His previous book, The Other Path, was published in more than ten languages and was a number one bestseller throughout Latin America.

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