Protecting Property Rights to Preserve Freedom and Prosperity: A Memo to President-elect Obama
Publication Date: January 2009
Publisher: Heritage Foundation (Washington, D.C.)
Author(s): Andrew M. Grossman
Research Area: Economics; Law and ethics
Keywords: Presidential transition; Eminent domain; Property rights
Type: Brief
Coverage: United States
Abstract:
Government policies that place property rights at risk and upset reasonable investment-backed expectations discourage all investment, innovation, and beneficial risk-taking and dampen economic growth. When property rights are uncertain, neighborhoods are consumed by blight, entrepreneurs suffer for lack of credit, and those who are well connected appropriate the resources of those who lack financial means and political connections--what is known as "crony capitalism." Strong legal protections for property rights are therefore a necessary condition for our continued economic and civil prosperity.
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