In breach of their duty to protect property rights, the world’s governments have instead become their chief violator. Whenever overseas oil company assets are nationalized, or local building projects are thwarted by land use regulations, or private homes are seized through eminent domain, we are reminded of Ayn Rand’s warning that “without property rights, no other rights are possible.”

In this course Mr. Bowden goes behind the headlines to explore how the myth of “public property” endangers multinationals extracting oil in Venezuela and Russia, how a distorted view of “police power” hampers land developers in America and how the concept of “public use” is used to rob peaceful homeowners. This course focuses on the cardinal principles that should govern the legal acquisition, use and disposal of material assets in a fully free society: objective value creation, freedom from the initiation of physical force and sanctity of contract.