Stanford University's Hoover Institution recently
published an interesting article entitled "Property Rights and African
Poverty." The article, written by James Robinson, professor of
government at Harvard University, traces the abject poverty in most of today's
Africa to the failure of the African people to
secure a stable system of property rights.
As Professor Robinson notes, without the means to own,
secure, and use real property, societies will not prosper economically, and
poverty follows. Control of property by government, in its many forms,
serves as a barrier to a prosperous nation.
This is not to say that property regulation by
government is not necessary - regulations that define property rights and
create systems for recording ownership, resolving disputes over ownership,
and protecting property owners from trespass, waste, and nuisance are
critical for a system of property ownership. In addition, regulations
that provide modest limits on property uses are sometimes useful tools for
ensuring that competing uses are balanced.
Ultimately, however, a society that promotes private
property rights will prosper over one that does not.
Oregon has a history of aggressive regulation
of private property, starting in 1973 with the passage of Senate Bill 100 by
the Oregon
legislature. Our land use system was unique when it was created, and
remains unique today - no other state has copied our zoning model.
As Bill Moshofsky notes in his book Regulatory Overkill, Oregon's land use planning system has gone
too far, and now serves as a barrier to property rights and economic
production. Concentrating power in the hands of the Land Conservation and
Development Commission (LCDC), a single state agency composed of seven
commissioners who are appointed by the governor, not elected, and who
cannot be removed by the legislature or the people, is dangerous. It is
more akin to the systems discussed by Professor Robinson than those in
countries that have a rich tradition of honoring property rights.
This is why Oregon
must do a better job of respecting property rights, and take steps toward
bringing our land use planning laws in line with those in the other 49 states
by allowing local governments to have final authority over land use and
planning decisions in their communities. This would make the
decision makers accountable to the public.
Professor Robinson's article can be on the Hoover
Institution's website. Here is the link:
http://www.hoover.org/publications/definingideas/87703842.html
For copies of Bill Moshofsky book on Oregon's land use planning laws, please
visit our website or contact us by telephone (503) 620-0258.
