A little something this week on how Confucian thought relates to modern economic practice.  The China Daily web link is here.  Full text below the jump.

Confucius was no capitalist
By Sam Crane(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-18 08:15

We
sometimes hear that the dramatic growth of East Asian economies, from
Japan to Singapore to China to South Korea, has been enabled by
Confucian values and social practices.

While there may be some
truth in this sweeping claim, there are also glaring contradictions
between Confucius’s own writing and the self-interested materialism
that fuels the industrial and post-industrial success of "Confucian
capitalism."

In its most general form, the description of
Confucian capitalism runs something like this: Close family
relationships allow investors to pool the resources and labour of
relatives and friends, providing start-up capital and staff for
enterprises. Sacrifice for and reinvestment in the firm is, thus, a
form of family solidarity. This provides strong incentive for hard work
and competitive energy.

Education also plays a key role.
Confucius, of course, emphasized the importance of schooling, and
societies that take that duty seriously stand a better chance of
developing the human capital necessary for success in rapidly changing
global markets.

Social networks, hard work and education these
things certainly have contributed to the accomplishments of
contemporary East Asian economies. But before we trumpet the virtues of
Confucian political economy we should recognize the fundamental
inconsistencies here with Confucian morality.

Confucius
famously abhorred the profit motive. There are many telling quotes in
the Analects, but my favourite on this topic is passage 7.12:

"The
Master said: ‘If there were an honourable way to get rich, I’d do it,
even if it meant being a stooge standing around with a whip. But there
isn’t an honourable way, so I just do what I like."

Could stooges with whips be the Confucian critique of modern business management?

He
also believed that social relationships should not be manipulated for
material gain. Mencius is most clear on this point when he argues
against encouraging sons to serve their fathers for profit, or brothers
so serving brothers: "When these relationships become a matter of
profit, the nation is doomed to ruin." So much for the efficacy of
relationship economics.

And as to education, its purpose, for
Confucius, should be moral improvement. Analects 7.25 tells us that
"the Master taught four things: culture, conduct, loyalty, and standing
by your words." He did not offer courses on finance, marketing,
accounting and global strategy. A Confucian MBA is an oxymoron.

All
of this is not to deny that historical and cultural factors have
influenced the rise of East Asian economies, mostly recently including
China’s; obviously they have.

I am, rather, simply trying to
detach the "Confucian" adjective from the "capitalist" noun. Chinese
culture, and the cultures of other countries in the region, have always
been more than simply "Confucian." In the economic realm in particular,
the commercial impulse that has long been evident in East Asian
societies has never fit comfortably with Confucian ethics. If there are
traditional antecedents to today’s economic dynamism, we should look
for them in other facets of history besides Confucianism.

Were he
somehow able to come back today and take a tour of the great cities of
the region Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul,
Tokyo I would bet that Confucius would not want his name used to
describe the hard-charging economic growth that he would find.

He
would likely ask: Are people taking enough time to live up to their
family and social duties? Are elders being properly cared for? Are we
doing enough to preserve traditional cultural artefacts? These are
questions that are often overwhelmed in today’s rush for personal
profit.