Property Rights Would Stop the Favelas from Burning

It's true, as the authorities would have us believe, that those urban slums are built largely of wood with a treacherously hotchpotch electrical supply running through them - and it's no surprise they so readily catch fire. But the underlying problem here isn't one of unregulated building, it's the absence of - the non-regulation if you like - property rights. That is why there are more fires where the land is of higher value.