Post by RS Davis on May 7, 2004 0:45:18 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Peter F. Schaefer Wrote:[/glow]
The world is discovering an unlikely new leader for the poor and developing nations: Peruvian economist and property rights advocate Hernando de Soto. In recent weeks, it has been announced that De Soto will receive the Sir John Templeton Prize, the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty and a royal order from the King of Thailand. Time magazine has named De Soto one of the 100 "most influential people in the world today."
These honors should come as no surprise for a man who has done so much to better the lives of so many poor people (and poor nations) around the globe.
De Soto, 63, travels the world advising governments on how to strengthen their economies by providing their poor citizens with the means to prosperity. De Soto begins by explaining the "hidden architecture" of property rights, which is the basis of all modern economies.
These rights are so well established in developed countries that they become invisible. The systems run smoothly in the West but in poor countries, legal property rights simply do not exist for the overwhelming majority of people.
