The code of capital : how the law creates wealth and inequality / Katharina Pistor.
2019
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Details
Author
Pistor, Katharina, author.
Title
The code of capital : how the law creates wealth and inequality / Katharina Pistor.
Imprint
Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2019]
Description
1 online resource (xiii, 297 pages)
Formatted Contents Note
Empire of law
Coding land
Cloning legal persons
Minting debt
Enclosing nature's code
A code for the globe
The masters of the code
A new code?
Capital rules by law.
Coding land
Cloning legal persons
Minting debt
Enclosing nature's code
A code for the globe
The masters of the code
A new code?
Capital rules by law.
Summary
"Capital is the defining feature of modern economies, yet most people have no idea where it actually comes from. What is it, exactly, that transforms mere wealth into an asset that automatically creates more wealth? The Code of Capital explains how capital is created behind closed doors in the offices of private attorneys, and why this little-known fact is one of the biggest reasons for the widening wealth gap between the holders of capital and everybody else. In this ... book, Katharina Pistor argues that the law selectively "codes" certain assets, endowing them with the capacity to protect and produce private wealth. With the right legal coding, any object, claim, or idea can be turned into capital - and lawyers are the keepers of the code. Pistor describes how they pick and choose among different legal systems and legal devices for the ones that best serve their clients' needs, and how techniques that were first perfected centuries ago to code landholdings as capital are being used today to code stocks, bonds, ideas, and even expectations--assets that exist only in law."--Provided by publisher.
Source of Description
Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on July 20, 2020).
Available in Other Form
Print version:
Linked Resources
Access provided by Berkeley Law Library
Course Lists
The Code of Capital by Gergen (FALL 2020)
Language
English
ISBN
9780691189437 (electronic book)
0691189439 (electronic book)
9780691178974
0691178976
0691189439 (electronic book)
9780691178974
0691178976
Record Appears in
Monographs & Serials
Electronic Resources
Electronic Resources