Más Mises: There is no prosperity without property rights
Image by Mises Institute
Private property rights, according to economist Ludwig von Mises, are crucial to economic prosperity. Without them, it becomes impossible to set up a system of free markets that allows for rational economic calculation. Despite this, property rights are under attack in Silicon Valley and California by progressives seeking to build a more “just” society through equity. The Mises Institute explains.
The owner of something has the most incentive to use his property responsibly. This might occur in the form of consuming a good with moderation or using a tool in the most efficient production process. The appropriation of property is a path towards wealth. In a free market system, one can acquire property, sell property, and even lease it, allowing for goods to reach the places where they are the most desired according to the price signals.
Without a system of private property and free markets, bureaucrats would be scrambling to find a system of valuation for even the most basic goods and services. The odds would be stacked against them as they cannot compare to a system that allows for voluntary transactions among people based on their individual subjective valuations.
Unfortunately, many now see the ability of people to own property as a problem for equity. Critics of free markets contend that “property is exploitation” and allows for the hoarding of resources by the wealthy. While it is true that some people are significantly wealthier than others, there should not be a problem if all of his property were acquired through fair and voluntary means. Regrettably, this often does not put off activists who still cling to a moral high ground for the equitable society they aim to bring about. Many even claim that property rights are an after-product of colonialism.
While a moral, deontological argument ought to be what convinces someone about private property and free markets, proponents of free markets can always just point to the disastrous consequences of the erosion of property rights.
Read the whole thing here.
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