J. Bishop Grewell makes a strong case for next year’s Nobel Prize in Economics -- Hernando De Soto. Having just read De Soto’s "The Mystery of Capital," I second Grewell’s nomination. Here’s his summary of this fabulous book.

As his [De Soto’s] most recent work, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else explained, Western systems are built upon a bedrock of property rights. Without this basic system of property, and the capitalism built on it, those stuck in the third world are cut off from capital markets, cut off from investment, and cut off from doing business with anyone beyond their immediate kith and kin. They have no officially recognized property that can be offered as collateral.

Read Grewell’s piece at NRO. And if you haven’t already, read The Mystery of Capital.