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5 verk 102 medlemmar 13 recensioner

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Well, this one is somewhat interesting, but a bit of a mess. It's sort of an almanac, and does contain interesting trivia about many of the countries, but I have to question the veracity of much of the information, particularly the statistics which are really supposed to be the core of the book. The author seems to either be intentional selective about how he defines "ownership" of land, or else he is inexperienced with statistical analysis. Either way, there is clear confirmation bias for his thesis that too much land is in the hands of too small a minority of people. His claims that the Queen of England OWNS the entirety of the UK and all British protectorates stands out in particular. While it may be technically true that the Crown owns all the land it rules, the Queen Herself doesn't own it, nor in practice does this equate to a single owner. It's largely an antiquated formality, and would be an interesting curiosity as a side note, but distracts from the reality of modern practice.

Worth flipping through, but don't risk citing it for research.
… (mer)
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branadain | 12 andra recensioner | Sep 15, 2010 |
Who Owns the World is a fascinating book that explores who owns land in every country and territory in the world. A fun book to flip through. It turns out that Queen Elizabeth II owns a sixth of the entire land surface on Earth – but that’s because she technically owns all of Canada and Australia. This book is more than fun facts. Only 15% of the world’s population lays claim to land. Could too much land in the hands of too few people be a leading cause of poverty?
 
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DashHouse | 12 andra recensioner | May 24, 2010 |
Not exactly what I was expecting. I thought it would be a narrated almanac or a list of facts and the author's interpretations of the stats given about land ownership across the world. What we are given is an irate person who has an agenda he is poorly trying to push. If you skip Part 1 Overview and Analysis the rest of the book is an interesting almanac with lots of information and usually a quick piece of trivia about each country. You also will most likely not notice the little sniping and snarking for what they are.

However if you actually read the first section the author has a grand view of 'what is wrong with the world'. Namely, too much land in the hands of too few. He starts on a tirade about the US Government owning ~%33 of the country and takes pot shots at people like Ted Turner for personally owning 1.8 Million acres. Then later he makes a big deal about the Queen of England owning 1/6 of the land surface of the entire planet. He starts by blurring the 'Crown' with the 'Queen' and then claims she owns all of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Britain and several other smaller countries as well as %60 of Antarctica. While the Queen is one of the richest land owners on the planet, it comes from her personal wealth not 'owning' entire countries.

The author seems to think that the world is in the trouble it is in because too many people do not have land of their own and that something should be done about this. He never gives any suggestions on what should be done or how he thinks this utopia should come about, but that doesn't deter him from whining. Apparently in one country, the ruling king gives every male at the age of 18 a home in the city and one in the country and the author seemed to think this was an excellent idea to be carried out, only expanding it to include women as well. Even though to do this lies in direct contradiction too few controling too much, since who will decide who gets what land and when?

So to sum up, Land is wealth and the poor are poor because they don't have any, and by reallocating the land we will make everyone richer. Of course he ignores the fact that not all land is equal (he estimated that Canada was worth about $5,000 an acre on average for the entire country), and many uses of land for cost effectiveness and efficiency require larger tracts of land. Which would produce more wheat a 500 acre field or 100-5 acre plots with houses and paths for travel? You'd be lucky to graze 2 cows on a 5 acre lot in many of the Western states, but where would you get your water? Overall while the author had a book of facts (which were interesting) he was rather ignorant of the real land scape. While I agree with his assessment for very narrow list of countries in Africa and Asia, his general disdain is rather ignorant in my opinion.
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readafew | 12 andra recensioner | Feb 23, 2010 |
This is a book for reference, and not to be read like a novel or an essay. It's full of interesting information, many of which are usually overlooked in newspapers and tv news. It can help to have a more clear background on what really happens in the world
 
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crnfva | 12 andra recensioner | Feb 10, 2010 |

Statistik

Verk
5
Medlemmar
102
Popularitet
#187,251
Betyg
3.1
Recensioner
13
ISBN
26
Språk
1

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