The Collapse of Zimbabwe

In a recent report(PDF) the Cato institute analysed how the loss of property rights contributed to Zimbabwe's downward spiral "...While in the short term governments may see the expropriation of private property as a viable policy option, in the long term this will only harm the economy. Rational investors will demand a risk premium for investing in developing countries (if rates of return are the same then why invest where your money is not secure?).This risk premium will cause the interest rate to be higher than it would otherwise be, thereby reducing inflows of capital. This causes the opportunity cost of a short term gain to the government to be the loss of investment that would provide jobs, income, improved life expectancy and a plethora of other indicators. Even worse capital could flee the country totally, leaving the economy in ruins..."
Via Globalisation Institute