Of Property Rights and Rights to Property

James E. Krier, University of Michigan Law School

Originally published as Krier, James E. "Of Property Rights and Rights to Property." Ohio Northern University Law Review 43, no. 3 (2023). Available at https://digitalcommons.onu.edu/onu_law_review/vol41/iss3/3

Abstract

In 2004, President George W. Bush said, “I believe in private property so much, I want everyone in America to have some.” Much earlier, in 1948, an economics professor from the University of Texas expressed the same sentiment in strikingly similar terms. When asked by an investigatory committee of the Texas legislature whether he favored private property, he replied, “I do . . . and so strongly that I want everyone in Texas to have some.”