Not a Zero-Sum Game - Ludwig von Mises Institute

NOT A ZERO-SUM GAME
It is not clear why, at the moment of the split, Vaclav and
Vladimir lost their property rights. Indeed, I am not aware of any
book, treatise, or author that attempts to justify the violation of
property rights based on the political jurisdiction of residence of
the property owners.
The view that it is countries that trade and not people is so wide-
spread because, I suspect, it is not perceived as something that
involves property rights. As a result, most governments feel free
to use their coercive powers to deny or otherwise interfere with
free trade when the parties involved in the exchange live in
different countries.
Some defend government interference arguing that a person does
not have an exclusive right to property because nobody produces
anything in isolation, without the collaboration of others, includ-
ing governments. But the process of social cooperation in the pro-
duction of goods and services is a series of contractual exchanges
of property rights, which are duly and mutually remunerated by
voluntary agreement between the parties involved. The process is
a continuum of settled accounts.
Whatever I produce-a bushel of coffee, a transistor radio, or a
crystal bowl-I do so by coordinating, directing, and disposing of