The Other Path: The Invisible Revolution in the Third World [Paperback]

Hernando De Soto (Author), June Abbott (Translator), Hernando De Soto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1990

Altering the way we perceive underdeveloped countries, this revolutionary volume focuses on Lima, Peru, and how its internal economies and political alliances function. De Soto also describes the surprising and revolutionary world of the "informals," those who work outside the law to achieve their goals. 24 pages of photographs.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

A revolutionary new analysis of the Third World, and a bestseller throughout Latin America. "The best way to understand Latin America's problems and issues is to read The Other Path."--Bill Bradley, U.S. Senate

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (January 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060916400
• ISBN-13: 978-0060916404
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,937,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where de Soto started - a brave statement, August 21, 2004

By 

Andy Orrock (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Other Path: The Economic Answer to Terrorism (Paperback)

I love the little jibe provided within the title of Hernando de Soto's "The Other Path." It's a poke at "The Shining Path" (Sendero Luminoso), the Maoist Peruvian terrorist organization that wreaked havoc on de Soto's homeland beginning in 1980. de Soto's attempt in this book is to show that the more effective struggle is to make capitalism more efficient. To those who know de Soto's work, the solutions are well known: build a system of laws that allow one's residents to buy, sell and value property rights; and reduce the complexities and banalities of starting a business.

If you've read de Soto's master work "The Mystery of Capitalism," then there is no new news here. In fact, "The Other Path" will look out-of-date with its yellowing statistics. So why the five stars? As a testament to de Soto's bravery. Think about the guts it took for him to research and publish this book in Peru during the tumultuous and frightening period there. What a statement.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Devastating Critique of Centrally Planned Economies, September 30, 2003

By 

Robert Huffstedtler (Cary, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Other Path: The Economic Answer to Terrorism (Paperback)

The original version of this book was written in the mid-80's to offer the people and government of Peru specific suggestions to combat Sendero Luminoso by making it possible for ordinary people to have a productive and meaningful participation in the nation's economy. This new printing includes a preface written in 2002 that provides the context and history for non-Peruvian readers and gives some analysis of the successes of the suggested reforms under the Fujimori government.

The first part of the book is a detailed analysis of three sectors of the Peruvian economy: housing, transport, and trade (small manufacturing and retail primarily). In each of these, De Soto demonstrates how the barriers raised by regulation and legal process from both right and left wing governments in Peru have forced the majority of persons participating to do so in informal/illegal ways. The result is that formal activity bears the brunt of taxation and informals have little protection in terms of property rights, contractual instruments, and so on. The net result is that everyone is impoverished. This section of the book can be tough reading because of the amount of detail, but its necessary in order to understand the importance of the second half.

The second half suggests that the Peruvian situation is really the reemergence of mercantilism, not a market economy. De Soto then provides some suggestions to peacefully transitiont to a market economy, and convincing warnings that failure to do so will almost certainly result in a violent transition.

The points that De Soto makes are increasingly significant to non-Peruvians as societies like America have increasingly centralised economies. Ironically, the cover includes blurbs from both Presidents Bush and Clinton. One suspects that netiher of them actually read the book.

30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars De Soto as a modern day Adam Smith?, June 6, 2003

By 

Nathaniel Woods (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Other Path: The Economic Answer to Terrorism (Paperback)

In many ways, I am disappointed that I read this book after reading de Soto's other book, "The Mystery Of Capital". Both this and his other book largely contain the same ideas, but "The Other Path" focuses more intently on de Soto's experiences in Peru rather attempting to answer a very broad question. Because "The Other Path" focuses on squarely on Peru, it can more completely chronicle how his ideas have been used to better the lot of poor Peruvians, and have contributed to the defeat of Sendero Luminoso.

I would have preferred it if the book did not purport to be a general answer to terrorism. While his ideas are very applicable with respect to Maoist revolutionaries attempting to (in theory) uplift the poor, they seem less relevant to "non-economic" terrorists, such as certain rich scions of Saudi families that fly airplanes into buildings, for example. But that is a minor point.