Take a look inside Progress and Property Rights
Written by Walker F. Todd
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, under the Fifth Amendment’s “takings clause,” a municipality may seize land from one private owner and transfer it to another solely to promote economic development. The 5-4 decision in the famed Kelo v. New London ruling set off a firestorm of criticism.
Prior to Kelo, just eight states had laws limiting or prohibiting the use of eminent domain for economic development. Today, 43 states have such laws.
New York State isn’t one of them. So the fight over what properly constitutes public use was recently rejoined in a state court case, Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corporation. In it, residents and business owners in a Brooklyn neighborhood are challenging the state’s use of eminent domain to acquire private property so that it can be turned over to a commercial developer who wants to build a new basketball arena for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets.
These ongoing controversies might give the impression that the passion Americans have for private property rights is unique to our country and our culture. That would be wrong.
As Walker F. Todd explains in Progress and Property Rights: From the Greeks to Magna Carta to the Constitution, the U.S. concept of property rights can be traced back to biblical times. It was developed further by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and first incorporated in the English Declaration of Rights in 1689. The process has been evolutionary—and as Kelo and Goldstein indicate, the evolution continues.
The purpose of Todd’s book is to inform the public of the traditions that underlay the development of modern American property rights. At a time when the issue generates as much heat as light, such a reflective step back can be useful for all of us.
About the Author
Walker F. Todd is an attorney and an economic consultant with 20 years’ experience at the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Cleveland. He has written numerous publications on banking and monetary topics.
Book Reviews
"In Progress and Property Rights, Walker Todd masterfully traces the history of property from ancient up to modern times, including even the most recent assaults on property rights in the forms of eminent domain abuse and massive bailouts of financial and other industries. Todd not only demonstrates that the protection of property rights is essential to economic well-being, but that property is inextricably linked to the preservation of personal freedom and self-fulfillment. Although Todd’s book is historical in nature, given government’s continuing destruction of property rights, his contribution could not be timelier."
Scott Bullock
Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice
Lead Counsel in Kelo v. City of New London
"Walker Todd connects us with the roots of western civilization, showing how property rights, giving both liberty and responsibility to individuals, enabled them to harness science and wisdom from all over to world, to spark the economic progress that has greatly improved the lives of billions--and he does all this in just 98 pages by pouring decades of his careful research, experience and keen observation into lucid, deftly written and often entertaining prose. A must-read for anyone wishing to understand how poverty has become progress whenever and wherever liberty with responsibility is tolerated and encouraged."
Richard Stroup
Senior Fellow, Property and Environment Research Center (Bozeman)
Adjunct Professor of Economics, NC State University (Raleigh)
"This book should be required reading for lawyers and economists and those who wish to understand the importance of property rights in our economic system."
Ronnie Phillips, Professor of Economics, Colorado State University
"Each page is packed with insights into history, economics and political thought."
Matt Bufton
Director, Institute for Liberal Studies
"Progress and Property Rights is a unique contribution in its field. No book has better detailed the rich and fascinating history of the market's most essential institution."
Craig Richardson
Author, The Collapse of Zimbabwe in the Wake of the 2000-2003 Land Reforms
"This is a clear, succinct account of the development in practice of the idea of property rights in the West. The style is plain and cogent, never marred by incomprehensible technicalities. If you want to know how property rights grew over the centuries and how they are intertwined with other issues like taxation and representation, this is the book to read. I recommend it highly."
Jigs Gardner
Property Rights Foundation of America
Click here to read a review from Matt Bufton in Canada's Journal of Ideas.
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