Academic Reviews

"A very great book...powerful and completely convincing. It will have a most salutary effect on the views held on economic development."

"De Soto has demonstrated in practice that titling hitherto untitled assets is an extremely effective way to promote economic development of society as a whole. He offers politicians a project which can contribute to the welfare of their country and at the same time enhance their own political standing, a wonderful combination."

"De Soto has singlehandedly been fomenting a revolution in the Third World... The Mystery of Capital constitutes one of the few new and genuinely promising approaches to overcoming poverty to come along in a very long time."

"Hernando de Soto goes back to a history he rightly claims we have either failed to read or have forgotten… He is on the right track… We must read him for his acute insights and for the great eloquence with which he tells us a few important home truths that we ignore at our peril."

"For policy-makers, international investors, and those who care about the challenges of developing countries, this book will offer new perspectives on and possible solutions for problems that have existed for centuries."

"A pioneering book. Following on his extraordinary and highly original The Other Path... this book, too, is another tour de force."

"This book is first class. It makes a very solid case for a way to improve the lot of people in the developing world."

"Fresh thinking is rare-this book has the capacity to transform the economies of those countries who have hitherto not been able to make capitalism work for their people... [It] explains how economies fail that have not first created the vital legal structures nor let the 'black' economy come into the mainstream economy."

"Here we do have a brilliant and simple idea… What Hernando de Soto has done is to help solve the mystery of poverty."