Posted on 10/22/2004 9:13:28 AM PDT by ckilmer
Just read another good book on this. Simply put, capitalism requires the confidence of investors in the rule of law and also in the inherent fairness of individuals.
Christianities maxim of treating others as you would be treated was no small part of making capitalism work.
Does this guy think Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are the west?
no but I think these countries have found ways to capitalize their property--in just the same way as the west.
"no but I think these countries have found ways to capitalize their property--in just the same way as the west."
Then he should have titled his book, The Mystery of Capital Why Capitalism Triumphs Some Places and Fails Some Places
quick=quit
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."
Well you can sure tell that this was written in Y2K.
Since Dubya took office in 2001, Foreign Direct Investment in the U.S. has drasticly plummeted by 80%.
I think there are two factors. One is the rule of law and the sanctity of contracts.
The other is Christianity or, where it has sufficient numbers, Judaism. Christianity and Judaism instill the ideas of freedom, fundamental equality, justice, private ownership, and decent consideration for others.
Some of these principles are found in other cultures. The Chinese, for instance, have traditionally been businessmen. But they have always had to cope with the whims of emperors or warlords. They have no traditional sense of inalienable rights or inalienable freedom.
Japanese, Chinese, and others from different backgrounds than ours have proved their ability to make capitalism work to a degree, but its not yet clear whether they will be able to establish societies that will not, in the end, crush the entrepreneurial spirit of innovation or confiscate the goods that capitalists have earned.
much of that has to do with the implosion on wall st. from 2000-2002
the point that de soto is making is not that other countries are less entreprenurial but rather that they have no capital. the second point he makes is that they have no capital because they have not capitalized their assets.
I require this book for my western civ class at the U.
Suggested chapter Hernando: "The Mystery of Why in the Hell Latin American Countries Remains So Damn Corrupt and Why that Encourages Black Market Economics."
I think it fair to say that its hard to figure stuff out.
de soto's working on it.
I like his thinking much better than than the stupid communist professors I had in college decades ago.
No, "Direct Foreign Investment" specifically excludes portfolio investments in the stock market. It is more reflective of ownership control of specific businesses, and capital investment in the plant and equipment to operate them. Examples would be when a foreign company purchases a business directly from a domestic company, whether it is a factory or a shopping mall. It is NOT the stock market.
come to think of it-- didn't china pass the
US in direct foreign investment a couple years ago?
ping as the DOW falls
Yes, it was reported just last month that they surpassed us in 2003.
China overtakes United States as top destination for foreign investment
Perhaps "overtake" isn't quite the right word.
While their FDI may have increased 1.5% last year,
ours got flushed down the crapper by 53%.
"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."
I concur, and in Christianity, their own interest is served by giving others a fair shake.
Who would give the butcher, brewer, or baker money to expand, if they suspected they were going to be cheated out of any profits?
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