The Priority of Ownership over the Market – Economics According to Gunnar Heinsohn

Authors

  • Justyna Schulz The Institute for Western Affairs

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26881/kg.2023.2.06

Keywords:

Property Rights, Ownership Economics, legal property title, money, capital import

Abstract

The article presents the main assumptions of Ownership Economics developed by Gunnar Heinsohn and Otto Steiger as an alternative to the neoclassical model of economic theory. Ownership Economics points to the importance of money creation processes for the development of a market economy. The authors argue that markets for services, goods, or labour follow financial transactions. The potential of capital creation depends not on accumulated savings but on the ability to secure financial contracts through legally codified and enforceable property titles. Hence, they propose to call the modern economic system an ownership economy, since ownership is the basis on which the processes of financing economic development take place. G. Heinsohn, particularly, emphasised that the difference between highly developed and “catching-up” countries lies not in the amount of capital and savings accumulated in the past but in the legal regulations in place that encourage the activation of ownership for financial purposes. It is wrongly assumed that the so-called ‘catchup’ countries rely on foreign capital imports. The focus on capital imports at the expense of domestic capital creation processes cements the subordinate position of these economies to those that generate their capital through domestic regulations. Ownership Economics proposes an alternative to the ‘non-alternative’ strategy of development through capital imports. It is particularly important given the current need to finance the green transition or the reconstruction of Ukraine.

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Published

2023-12-29

How to Cite

Schulz, J. (2023). The Priority of Ownership over the Market – Economics According to Gunnar Heinsohn. Karto-Teka Gdańska, (2(13), 74–92. https://doi.org/10.26881/kg.2023.2.06