Governments that want their people to prosper in the burgeoning（迅速成长，发展）world economy should guarantee two basic rights: the right to private property and the right to enforceable contracts, says Mancur Olson in his book Power and Prosperity. Olson was an economics professor at the University of Maryland until his death in 1998.
Some have argued that such rights are merely luxuries that wealthy societies bestow, but Olson turns that argument around and asserts that such rights are essential to creating wealth. “ Incomes are low in most of the countries of the world, in short, because the people in those countries do not have secure individual rights,” he says.
Certain simple economic activities, such as food gathering and making handicrafts, rely mostly on individual labor; property is not necessary. But more advanced activities, such as the mass production of goods, require machines and factories and offices. This production is often called capital-intensive, but it is really property-intensive, Olson observes.
“No one would normally engage in capital-intensive production if he or she did not have rights that kept the valuable capital from being taken by bandits, whether roving or stationary,” he argues. “There is no private property without government –individuals may have possessions, the way a dog possesses a bone, but there is private property only if the society protects and defends a private right to that possession against other private parties and against the government as well.”
Would-be entrepreneurs, no matter how small, also need a government and court system that will make sure people honor their contracts. In fact, the banking systems relied on by developed nations are based on just such an enforceable contract system. “We would not deposit our money in banks .. if we could not rely on the bank having to honor its contract with us, and the bank would not be able to make the profits it needs to stay in business if it could not enforce its loan contracts with borrowers,” Olson writes.
Other economists have argued that the poor economies of Third World and communist countries are the result of governments setting both prices and the quantities of goods produced rather than letting a free market determine them. Olson agrees that there is some merit to this point of view, but he argues that government intervention is not enough to explain the poverty of these countries. Rather, the real problem is lack of individual rights that give people incentive to generate wealth. “If a society has clear and secure individual rights, there are strong incentives to produce, invest, and engage in mutually advantageous trade, and therefore at least some economic advance,” Olson concludes. （441 words）
51. Which of the following is true about Olson?
A. He was a fiction writer.
B. He edited the book Power and Prosperity.
C. He taught economics at the University of Maryland.
D. He was against the ownership of private property.
52. Which of the following represents Olson’s point of view?中 华 考 试 网
A. Protecting individual property rights encourages wealth building.
B. Only in wealthy societies do people have secure individual rights.
C. Secure individual rights are brought about by the wealth of the society.
D. In some countries, people don’t have secure individual rights because they’re poor.
53. What does Olson think about mass production?
A. It’s capital intensive.
B. It’s property intensive.
C. It relies in individual labor.
D. It relies in individual skills.
54. What is the basis for the banking system?
A. Contract system that can be enforced
B. People’s willingness to deposit money in banks.
C. The possibility that the bank can make profits from its borrowers.
D. The fact that some people have surplus money while some need loans.
55. According to Olson, what is the reason for the poor economies of Third World countries?
A. government intervention
B. lack of secure individual rights
C. being short of capital
D. lack of free market
51—55 CABAB
