Study

Property rights have been at the very heart of human development in the past centuries. On one hand, property has been viewed as the basis for liberty and economic development. On the other hand, as Proudhon said, property is just another word for theft. With these questions in mind, we will cover the conventional areas of a basic property course, but with additional materials on international and comparative law. We will begin with an inquiry into how members of a society allocate, and should allocate, formal and informal entitlements to scarce resources, primarily land but also water, data, and even wild animals. Through the course we will explore various forms of private property and also alternative regimes such as communal and state property. We will also explore the role of property rights in addressing various challenges human beings are facing today: How to reform eminent domain institutions and land use regulations to make cities more liveable? Are property rights the key to economic prosperity and political freedom in the U.S. and worldwide? At the core of property is the boundary and interaction between individual dominion and state sovereignty, which we will examine in both conventional (such as land) and unconventional (such as data) settings.

Spring 2022

Course Number	Course Credits	Evaluation Method	Instructor
170.04	Course Credits 4	Final Exam Class participation	Jonathan B. Wiener
Sakai site: https://sakai.duke.edu/portal/site/LAW-170-04-Sp22
Email list: LAW-170-04-Sp22@sakai.duke.edu