Property Law and the Mortgage Crisis: Libertarian Fantasies and Subprime Realities

Abstract

Libertarian thinking is on the rise in the United States, but libertarians wrongly characterise regulation as a deprivation of both freedom and property rights and an inefficient interference with the free market. While libertarians are correct to praise the value of freedom, they fail to appreciate how regulations promote liberty, property and efficiency. The subprime crisis reminds us that neither property nor liberty nor the market can exist without law. Laws establish minimum standards for economic and social relationships appropriate to a free and democratic society that treats each person with equal concern and respect. Property rights are structured by law to protect consumers from unfair practices and to ensure that economic relationships comply with minimum standards of decency.