Soon after India’s political independence, a broad public debate revolved around the type of economic system that should be adopted and followed. Three proposals emerged: the Gandhian model, based on village economy and trusteeship; the Bombay Plan, which posited that the economy could not grow without government intervention and regulation, especially in capital-goods production; and the Nehruvian model, which was premised on a socialistic pattern of society and shunned every possible avenue for the private enterprise.

While you may see those who walk away from underwater mortgages as morally wrong for breaking their mortgage vows, others see those who stay for the financial beating as stupid. No matter. As prices continue to fall, millions more will make a run for it.

It occurred to me the other day that the best way to classify the legal nature of intellectual property rights such as patent and copyright is the civil law doctrine of negative servitudes. Patent and copyright permit the holder of these rights to prohibit certain uses of their own property.

In view of the ongoing international financial and economic “crisis,” many investors increasingly ask, Is higher inflation inevitable?1 At first glance, this question appears to be rhetorical. Technically speaking, inflation can of course be prevented.