Many state and local governments tax tangible personal property, similar to cars and boats, along with real property, such as homes and land. Chattel is tangible private property that’s movable between areas, as opposed to immovable property similar to actual estate. Frédéric Bastiat’s primary treatise on property can be found in chapter eight of his book Economic Harmonies . In a radical departure from traditional property principle, he defines property not as a bodily object, but rather as a relationship between people with respect to an object. Thus, saying one owns a glass of water is merely verbal shorthand for I may justly reward or trade this water to another individual.
