The U.S. and other Western democracies have grown wealthy over the past three centuries for a simple reason: Their citizens have been able to establish clear title to land, buildings, and other property. So argues Hernando de Soto, the Peruvian economist, in his influential 2000 book The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. While people in developed nations can borrow against their property and use the money to start businesses and accumulate wealth, he wrote, squatters in countries like Peru have no such option. Property rights beget prosperity.
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机译：在过去的三个世纪中，美国和其他西方民主国家变得更加富有，原因很简单：他们的公民能够对土地，建筑物和其他财产确立明确的所有权。秘鲁经济学家埃尔南多·德索托（Hernando de Soto）在2000年颇具影响力的一本书《资本之谜：为什么西方的资本主义胜利而到处失败》中指出。他写道，虽然发达国家的人民可以借自己的财产来借钱，并用这笔钱开办企业和积累财富，但像秘鲁这样的国家的擅自占地者却没有这种选择。财产权带来繁荣。
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