Hernando de Soto on the Future of Democracy and Markets in Latin America

November 15th, 2007
[extract of introduction prepared by Aleksandr Shkolnikov of CIPE ]

Hernando de Soto is famous for his work on reducing the size of the informal sector and paving the way for people to be part of the formal economy and to participate in a democracy. [...]

In de Soto's view, reformers must remove barriers to business, secure property rights, provide incentives for people to participate in the economy, and open avenues for political participation. Only then can you expect people to move up the development ladder, from the uncertainty and survival entrepreneurship of the informal sector to prosperity and value creation of the formal market economy. Although de Soto is frequently perceived (and criticized for) as advocating property rights titles, the reality is that he actually talks about broader institutional reforms, of which property rights titles are only a part, albeit an important one. And he not only talks about it, he actually does it --not only in Peru, but in other countries around the world.

Recently, John Sullivan, our executive director, sat down with Hernando to talk about the future of reform in Latin America in the context of his work. These are some of the questions he asked de Soto: Is it reasonable to expect support for free markets in the region? What is the future of democracy in Latin America? What do citizens see as their primary concerns and who can offer best solutions to their problems?

You can see Hernando de Soto talk about these topics and his work below.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3