These facts present a puzzling paradox. Since Adam Smith penned The Wealth of Nations over two centuries ago, it has been the conventional wisdom that strong property rights are a prerequisite for growth and economic development. Yet throughout history, land expropriation and property insecurity for marginalized groups has actually led to growth—although at the cost of these vulnerable groups. The enclosure of the commons in seventeenth century Britain, broadly acknowledged to have reduced overgrazing and increased agricultural investments on newly enclosed land, improved the property rights security of landed elites but eroded the property rights of small and medium cottagers who previously had rights to the newly enclosed commons. Increasing the security of private property rights for the gentry required expropriating the property of smallholder farmers and pastoralists.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 20:05:17 +0000
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