• Our Story
  • Your Story
  • Our Work
    • Center for Justice
    • Center for Opportunity Policy
    • Center for Technology & Innovation Policy
    • Education
    • Health & Medicaid
    • Legal & Regulatory
    • Local Government
    • PeliCast
    • Press Releases
    • Tax & Budget
    • Transportation
  • Take Action
Donate

We believe every
Louisianan should
have the opportunity
to flourish.

  • Home

  • Our Story

    • Staff
    • Jobs
    • Pelican Leadership
      Academy
    • Request a Speaker
  • Your Story

  • Take action

    • Lawmakers
    • Contact Your Rep
  • Contact

  • Newsletter signup

  • Donate

  • Search

  • Policy
    Reports

  • Our Work

    • Center for Justice
    • Center for Opportunity Policy
    • Center for Technology & Innovation Policy
    • Education
    • Health & Medicaid
    • Legal & Regulatory
    • Local Government
    • PeliCast
    • Press Releases
    • Tax & Budget
    • Transportation
U.S. Property Rights Protections Decline for Third Straight Year

Robert Ross

Robert Ross
/ Legal & Regulatory
by Robert Ross
March 30, 2011
twitter facebook

U.S. Property Rights Protections Decline for Third Straight Year

Eminent domain abuses and increased government regulation cited as cause

NEW ORLEANS, La. – An international comparative study that measures the protection of physical and intellectual property rights ranked the United States 18th overall, down from 16th in 2010 and 14th in 2007.

The Property Rights Alliance used three core components when calculating each countries score: legal and political environment, physical property rights, and intellectual property rights. The United States’ score fell because of a reduction in the physical property rights category, which also includes reliability of property registration and access to loans.

Kelsey Zahourek, chief executive of the Property Rights Alliance, cites eminent domain abuses in New Jersey and California and new regulations that seek to gain control of the market as reasons for the decline.

“Actions that weaken America’s property rights foundation pose a serious threat to economic vitality,” she says.

The United States ranked 25th in physical property rights, behind Bahrain (5th), Saudi Arabia (8th), Oman (9th), and Tunisia (21st). However, the United States ranked 19th for Intellectual Property Rights, which helped raise her overall score.

The study found that countries with stronger property rights have higher per capita incomes, with the top 20 percent enjoying an average national GDP per capita of $38,350, while the bottom 20 percent averaged only $4,785.

The Institute for Justice, a civil liberties law firm, claims that state and local governments have been using eminent domain to circumvent individual property rights for the benefit of private businesses in the name of economic development.

“Private homes and businesses have been bulldozed, replaced by newer businesses and homes owned not by the public, but by private, politically powerful individuals and corporations.”

Dr. Walter Block, a Loyola University economics professor, echoes the importance of strong private property rights, “The main difference between economies that are economically free, and those that are not, is the far greater scope private property rights play in the free enterprise system.”

Robert Ross is a researcher and social media strategist with the Pelican Institute for Public Policy. He can be contacted at rross@pelicanpolicy.org, and you can follow him on twitter.


Want more? Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.

Thank you, we'll keep you informed!

Want more?
Sign up for our newsletter.

Copyright © 2023 Pelican Policy. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.