When Countries Fail - NYTimes.com In addressing the question of why nations fail, economists would do better to abandon the search for the one answer. Being neither scientists nor theocrats, they would be better advised to explore how different facts interact under different circumstances. This would yield more explanatory light than rhetorical heat. ALLAN HUTCHINSON, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto I suggest looking at the Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto's book "The Mystery of Capital," which fully explores this subject. I continue to wonder why the winners of the American capitalism lottery (Gates, Buffett, etc.) don't use their tax-free foundation money to finance a worldwide property system. De Soto's 2000 estimate was that there was $1.7 trillion available for owners to borrow against if they could prove they own their property. Imagine the disruptive force these property owners would have on their autocratic and dysfunctional governments? Recommended first stop: Pakistan. BECKER KLINE, Silicon Valley, Calif., posted on nytimes.com