A Conversation with Hernando de Soto

In 2000, the Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto published The Mystery of Capital, his landmark study of the relationship between property rights and poverty. De Soto claimed that some $9 trillion of â??dead capitalâ? was locked up in land, homes, and businesses belonging to poor people who did not technically â??ownâ? them. Without deeds or titles, he argued, poor people all over the world are not able to leverage their property for profit. Solving this problem became de Sotoâ??s mission.