Dead capital is an economic term related to property which is informally held, is not legally recognized, and cannot be exchanged for financial capital. The uncertainty of ownership decreases the value of the asset and/or the ability to lend or borrow against it. These lost forms of value are dead capital. The term dead capital was coined by Peruvian Economist Hernando de Soto Polar. De Soto estimated in 2015 that 5.3 billion of 7.3 billion people globally – over seventy percent of the world's population – hold dead capital that is worth US$ 9.3 trillion in assets. This dead capital owned by poor or middle-class people in emerging economies cannot be realized due to poor policies, ineffective procedures, or bureaucracy. If these assets in the informal sector were recognized and brought into the mainstream market economy, they could possibly become the key to fostering development. Economic impact The economic impacts of dead capital are immense; only well-connected people have the ability to use their capital and join it together with other assets and create surplus value for further investment. Only these people can get life, educational, medical or property and casualty insurance and thus shield themselves from any problems. Only they can obtain unsecured loans (or even secured loans) after providing proper evidence of their property claims. The legal morass that complicates the property system disables them from being connected to the world. This then leaves a massive shadow economy which although very wealthy, does not fully contribute to the economy and does not help its participants fully achieve their potential. De Soto argued that those living in poverty should be provided titles to the land, homes and businesses they live, recognized as dead capital without being legally registered, which would bring vitality to the assets and grant poor individuals the opportunity to build wealth and generate income. He also believed that instability surrounding property rights was a leading reason for conflict internationally. Reception World Bank Country Manager for Serbia Loup Brefort advocated for the idea of dead capital to promote real estate assets among Serbians. PricewaterhouseCoopers also recommended utilizing real estate in Nigeria to obtain assets, estimating that there existed $300–900 billion of potential residential property in the country as dead capital. In the South Carolina Lowcountry, the United States Forest Service visited the concept of dead capital while attempting to manage heir property – land owned by two