Dead capital

Dead capital is an economic term related to property which is informally held that it is not legally recognized. The uncertainty of ownership decreases the value of the asset[1] and/or the ability to lend or borrow against it. These lost forms of value are dead capital.

The term dead capital was coined by Peruvian Economist Hernando de Soto Polar.

De Soto estimates there is US$ 9.3 trillion in dead capital globally. The US$ 9.3 trillion are assets owned by poor or middle-class people in emerging economies which can't be realized due to poor policies, procedures or bureaucracy.

If these assets in the informal sector were recognized and brought into the mainstream, market economy, they could become the key to fostering development.[2]

Problems associated with dead capital

Local political instability, corruption, rational under investment.

Economic impacts

The economic impacts of dead capital are immense, only the well connected (people who are in the bell jar) have the ability to use their capital and join it together with other assets and create surplus value for further investment, only the people in the bell jar can get life, educational, medical or property and casualty insurance and thus shield themselves from any problems. Only the people in the bell jar can stroll into the bank and obtain unsecured loans or even secured loans after presenting proper evidence of their claims to their property. The poor then are not poor because they are dumber or less shrewd than the rich but because the legal morass that complicates the property system disables them from being connected to the world. This then leaves a massive shadow economy which albeit is very wealthy, it is not fully contributing to the economy and also not helping it's participators fully achieve their potential.[3]

References

Groups working to solve the dead capital problem

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