Thanks for this comment. It initially piqued my interest because I confused de Soto with the Spanish conquistador of the same name, quickly cleared that up thou

Thanks for this comment. It initially piqued my interest because I confused de Soto with the Spanish conquistador of the same name, quickly cleared that up though! It was cool to realise he was key in the economic reforms of Peru, my family had to move because of the Shining Path, so it's close to home. So I've quickly read his Wikipedia entry (and have the book to read later). It seems like the critiques of his approach, resulting him being lumped in the 'neoliberal' bucket, is that he pushes property rights as practically the only requirement for developing countries to successfully reform their economies to the benefit of all. Whereas your phrasing as "successful private markets depend heavily on a network of accepted public services" (which I agree with more) would seem to encompass more than only legal and justice frameworks towards property rights. Anyway, I'll read the book and think more about it. Thanks again.