Property Rights

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Lessons from Uruguay’s Drug Reform

Uruguay is set to become the first country to legalize the manufacture, distribution, and sale of marijuana. This is a meaningful step toward reducing drug-related crimes, eliminating wasteful spending, and shifting the debate from criminalization to individual...

It Is Capitalism, Not Democracy, That the Arab World Needs Most: Property rights for aid: this could be the most effective anti-poverty strategy in history

To watch events in Egypt is like seeing a videotape of the Arab Spring being played backwards. The ballot box has been kicked away, the constitution torn up, the military has announced the name of a puppet president – and crowds assemble in Tahrir Square to go wild with joy. The Saudi Arabian monarchy, which was so nervous two years ago, has telegrammed its congratulations to Cairo’s generals. To the delight of autocrats everywhere, Egypt’s brief experiment with democracy seems to have ended in embarrassing failure.

Canadian Property Rights Index

Property rights are fundamental to the prosperity of any economy. Without predictable and enforceable property rights, individuals and businesses cannot receive a return on economic activity. Property rights are also strongly correlated to GDP per capita and foreign...

Rating Property Rights

The Frontier Centre has released the first Canadian Property Rights Index. The March 14th report, written by Joseph Quesnel, was fashioned along the same basis as a U.S. property rights index, rating how each of the 13 jurisdictions in Canada handled property rights.

The Secret to Reviving the Arab Spring’s Promise: Property Rights: The protests that toppled governments were fueled by anger over the lack of a basic element in market economies.

Research in the region conducted by my organization, the Peruvian-based Institute for Liberty and Democracy, has found strong evidence that the Arab Spring revolution was rooted in a desire for what in the West would be called a market-based economy. Arabs and others may not always use that phrase, but their desire for the economic security that comes with property rights and other rights is a force that the foes of individual freedom will not easily overcome. The challenge is to harness that force by offering people of the region the legal protections and security that are the bedrock of all successful economies.