Why Do the Poor Stay Poor?

http://www.creators.com/opinion/john-stossel/why-do-the-poor-stay-poor.html

It really bugs me that much of the world hasn't yet figured out what gave Americans and other western countries the power to prosper. Foolish ideas about government planning and wealth redistribution hold much of the world back. And of course those bad ideas also still thrive in Congress.
Economic freedom is what allows prosperity. Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto taught me that economic freedom is more than an absence of bad regulation. It includes the power of property rights and I focus this week's syndicated column on his lesson. I first met de Soto at one of those lunches where people sit around wondering how to end poverty, and he starts pulling pictures out showing slum dwellings built on top of each other.