In this paper I will be summarizing three economic papers related to property rights and taxes, they are: “The Exchange and Enforcement of Property Rights” and “Some Aspects of Property Rights” by Harold Demsetz, and “External Diseconomies, Corrective Taxes, and Market Structure” by James M. Buchanan.
In order to have an ideal system of property rights, all rights must be completely assigned to individuals; the assigned individual can have an exclusive right to use their resources; all property can be freely transferred between owners, and all properties must be protected from involuntary seizure. “The fundamental purpose of property rights, and their fundamental accomplishment, is that they eliminate destructive competition for control
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Summarize
“The Exchange and Enforcement of Property Rights” by Harold Demsetz
This paper mainly talked about two important problems regarding the efficiency of welfare economics: “zero pricing of scarce goods need not result in inefficiency, and zero pricing of public goods may result in inefficiency” (page 2/17). Looking at these two problems, Demsetz assumes that individuals do not make errors in calculations, that means, people knows exactly their own preferences and maximizes their utilities based on the correct calculations. He also assumes that there will be no monopoly problems by either a firm or the government, but the imperfect information problems are treated.
When considering efficiency for produced goods, there is an optimal theorem that requires all marginal rates of substitution to be equal. Some says even perfectly competitive markets fail to achieve efficiency, the production of some goods may have side effects that are not exchanged over the market, and markets do not take into consideration of those side effects, which can lead to inefficiency of over or under producing of a good than society desires. This reasoning fails to take account of the fact that the provision of side effects is a valuable and costly service, so that a market of this service might not even exist. If this service is not being produced, it is the inequalities of some produced goods among marginal rates of substitution that may be consistence with efficiency.
Property: The right to claim and hold property; When it has been laboured for, one encloses it for greater individual profit the profit of the community of Man, it has been laboured for – Natural means of ownership one encloses it – The process of holding legal “deed” for greater individual profit – to build investment equity and avoid poverty of waste the profit of the community of Man – Moral commitment to Human Development (Locke: 1689).
As seen in Chapter 15 of Real Estate Principles by Charles J. Jacobus, property tax is a large source of income for local governments. When property taxes are not paid, a lien is placed on the property. If property taxes are not paid, this gives the government the right to seize the property. This is currently happening to Bill Davies, a developer from Chicago, Illinois.
Throughout American history, the definition, allocation and protection of property rights has been one of the most controversial and combative issues. According to Armen and Demsetz (1973), “…a private property right includes the right to delegate, rent, or sell any portion of the rights by exchange or gift at whatever price the owner determines (provided someone is willing to pay that price). If person A is not allowed to buy some rights from Person B and Person B therefore is not allowed to
Many philosophers have written arguments advocating for all types of property rights ranging from private to communal and for a varying array of reasons.Personally, I feel Schmidtz has the most compelling argument surrounding property rights. He argues for private property rights. According to Schmidtz when property does not have an owner and instead belongs to the commons, there is no way to protect that resource. Schmidtz provides the example of fishing using destructive methods. In certain countries, fishermen fish using methods that destroy habitats such as throwing dynamite or bleach in the water. This method has an extremely successful one time effect as all the dead fish float to the top of the water. However, it kills the entire habitat
Freedom in America and property went hand and hand; without the ownership of property, indivduals were not granted the privilege of living freely. The security of property was recognized as a foundation of freedom in early America. This was so because without property one was viewed poorly, “those who did not control their own lives ought to not have a voice in governing the state. Political freedom required economic independence”. Therefore, freedom was not awarded to those without control of land and subsequently, control over their own lives. Furthermore, the connection between personal liberty and private property ownership paralleled that of the relationship between land control and complete freedom. Personal freedom is defined as, “the ability to make crucial individual choices free from outside coercion”. But without land, people were already viewed as incompetent for individuality, so it would be impossible for one to achieve personal freedom. This does in fact make owning land a prerequisite for personal freedom. In conclusion, there is a direct relationship between land ownership and
The concept of property has long been one of the most crucial aspects for the U.S. citizens, as it is a major part of the Constitutional, and, therefore, human rights. Although the perception and understanding of “property” have been considerably changed, especially in terms of political and philosophical vision, it still has a particular meaning for the Americans. In general, the idea of property is the question of the political thought and conceptualized thinking common for the United States. In most cases, its transformations are connected to the introduction of capitalism and related governmental decision in politics. Therefore, as any other topic, the value of property has undergone harsh debates. In particular, such important figures as James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Walt Whitman have developed a fundamental scope of analyses with regard to the property rights in America.
"Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one may be deprived of it except when public necessity..."
The United States of America is a country priding itself on providing equal opportunity for the right of life, liberty, and property. These unalienable rights, according to the Founding Fathers, were not to be taken away or denied by the American government. Also known as a natural right, the right to life can be classified as a citizen’s right to be protected by the government from abuse or death. Property classifies the right that a citizen has for owning materialistic items and land for which can be considered private. Finally, the right of liberty presented in the Constitution for a citizen refers to many different aspects ranging from freedom of speech and expression, right to bear arms, freedom of religion, freedom against search and
Assessment of the Statement that Property is a Power Relationship Between People Property is the right to possess, enjoy or use a determinant thing, and includes the right of excluding others from doing the same. The concept of ownership or property has no single or widely accepted definition. Like any other concept it has great weight in public discourse and the popular usage varies broadly. Property is frequently conceived as a 'bundle of rights and obligations.' Property is stressed as not a relationship between people and things, but a relationship between people with regard to things.
Political philosopher John Locke ideas and theories serve as a foundation in our democratic world. In the Second Treatise of Government sovereignty is placed in the hands of the people. Locke argues that everyone is born equal and has natural rights in the state of nature. He also argues that men have inalienable rights to life, liberty and property. The central argument around the creation of a civil society was with the protection of property. In this essay I will explain Locke's theory of property and how it is not anything other than a "thinly disguised defense of bourgeois commercial capitalism." This statement is defended through Locke's personal background and his justifications for the inequalities of wealth.
This paper is going to explore various definitions of what and eminent domain entails and what it means for the average person. Where did eminent domain actually start and what happened before the law was enacted, how it came to fruition. This paper is going to examine different states and governments about what they feel just compensation is and the owners reactions to what the government is doing.
In Distributive Justice, Robert Nozick aims to clarify the processes of distribution that can be reasonably upheld in a free society. To do so, he examines the origins of how people legitimately come to own things and applies the least intrusive set of guidelines that can be doled out in order to guarantee the most justice possible, while also respecting individual liberty. Nozick provides the Entitlement Theory, which specifies that so long as there is justice in the acquisition and transfer of holdings (things one owns), there is no injustice or infringement upon liberties of others and the parties involved are entitled their holdings. In the event there is an injustice committed, he provides the third topic of “ the rectification of injustice in holdings.” Establishing how individuals may legitimately acquire holdings is crucial to a discussion on the liberty and rights of individuals in a free, yet cooperative society. In order to further clarify how individuals originally come to own things in society, Distributive Justice later analyzes John Locke’s Theory of Acquisition. A diminishing number of unowned resources as well as the inherent problems in a free market convolute the issue.
John Locke and Karl Marx, two of the most renowned political philosophers, had many contrasting views when it came the field of political philosophy. Most notably, private property rights ranked high among the plethora of disparities between these two individuals. The main issue at hand was whether or not private property was a natural right. Locke firmly believed that private property was an inherent right, whereas Marx argued otherwise. This essay will examine the views of both Locke and Marx on the subject of private property and will render insight on whose principles appear more credible.
In the Second Treatise of Government by John Locke, he writes about the right to private property. In the chapter which is titled “Of Property” he tells how the right to private property originated, the role it plays in the state of nature, the limitations that are set on the rights of private property, the role the invention of money played in property rights and the role property rights play after the establishment of government.. In this chapter Locke makes significant points about private property. In this paper I will summarize his analysis of the right to private property, and I will give my opinion on some of the points Locke makes in his book. According to Locke, the right to private property originated when God gave the world to
The concept of property and property rights is a topic which many philosophers have struggled to describe. The renowned political theorists Thomas Hobbes and John Locke hold vastly different opinions in regard to the concept of property. In 1651, Hobbes outlined his views in his book, Leviathan, where he discusses societal structure and his social contract theory. Almost forty years later, Locke published his Second Treatise of Government, in which he described mankind’s state of nature, and natural rights. These two works expressed near complete opposite viewpoints in regards to the nature of property and human rights.