ABSTRACT

Property is a relationship among people that establishes who may act, produce, or consume without the consent of non-property holders. It may also prescribe acts that others must take to provide opportunities to the rights holder. These rights are antecedent to markets and determine who is seller and who is buyer. Collective action is the process by which this relationship becomes operative. The most fundamental thing that one can say is that property is a public (social) fact and government is the process by which this property relationship becomes fact.