ABSTRACT
A property rights system that includes the right of ownership is not provided by nature. It can only be created bylegal enactment. This always immaterial step, in contrast to ploughing or harvesting, does not change the object of (de facto orde jure)possession physically. Immediately after the creation of ownership titlesout-of-nothing, these yield the ownership premium. This premium, in contrast to interest or profit, does not need to be earned. It cannot be emphasized often enough that the ownership premium arises neither from the physical use of goods and resources nor from a pre-existing stock of money. It arises from an act of law.
