The Genesis of Economic Cooperation in the Stories of Joseph: A Constitutional and Institutional Economic Reconstruction

Abstract

The paper analyzes in constitutional and institutional economic terms Joseph’s economic policies, such as changes to property rights arrangements for farming, the introduction of a barter tax on crop production, and the multi-layered bureaucratic hierarchies of Egypt. Utilizing Buchanan’s approach to constitutional economics, I argue that these policies lowered attack/defense costs as they arise, when a group attempts to escape from the natural distribution state (the “war of all”, as Hobbes called it). A key thesis is that this encouraged interacting parties, already on the grounds of selfinterested choice, to engage in societal contracting out of the “war of all,” thereby reaping mutual gains.

Complementary to this strand of analysis, I have drawn on other institutional economic concepts, particularly those that were introduced by Williamson, and by North and Weingast. The paper argues in this respect that Joseph’s policies credibly and more reliably guaranteed property rights, which in turn lowered transaction costs of the interacting parties, i.e. Egypt and Israel. This ultimately yielded mutual gains and high economic performance for the society depicted in Genesis. In this way, cooperation was generated in economic terms.     

近年来国际旅游学术期刊和论文选题的特征分析

本文汇集了160种国际旅游学界专业杂志名录,从中遴选出35种常见的旅游专业期刊予以简要介绍,并又在其中选取了20种学术杂志在2005～2006年间发表的1043篇论文进行了选题统计,对旅游和休闲方面的4本最有影响的学术杂志刊载的论文被中外学者引用情况进行了统计。最后,简要探讨了我国旅游学术研究“国际化”的问题。     

HOUSING: FROM NIGHT WATCHMAN STATE TO WELFARE STATE

This paper illustrates and evaluates some of the features of the Danish and European research of the history of housing policy and relates these to the main results and perspectives in the author's doctoral thesis ‘Housing: From Night Watchman State to Welfare State – Construction and Housing Policy in three Danish Towns, 1850–1930’, 2006. The paper argues that the roots of the welfare state's housing policy are to be found in the far more prominent part which the public sector got to play in the Danish society as a result of the crises following World War I and the conjunctural repercussions throughout the 1920s.     

Rational Religion: Economic Patterns in Old Testament Thought

By tracing institutional and constitutional economic patterns to Old Testament thought, the thesis of a rational economic dimension of the biblical text can be advanced and the actual nature and substance of religion can be conceptualised in economic terms. Here the paper questions the widespread assumption that religion will be radically different from modern ethics (“economics as ethics”) in the tradition of the Scottish Enlightenment. In this regard the paper specifically addresses the call for a concept of “rational religion” as early on identified by Smith but contests the explicit claims of Smith or modern institutional economists like Buchanan that a concept of rational religion or “economics as ethics” necessarily is separated from the Bible. An institutional economic theory of Old Testament-based religion is proposed through a set of four theses. On the basis of these arguments, the paper outlines why Old Testament-based religion still has and could have a persistent and pervasive influence in contemporary, capitalist society.     

Perpetual Alleluia and Sacred Violence: An Afterword

This paper re-examines Paul Schroeder's thesis concerning the new international order after 1815 and argues that the practicalities of power projection were as important in shaping foreign policy as were diplomatic principles and practices. Highlighting Wellington's role in policy-making, it re-assesses British interventions in Portugal in the 1820s to argue that the exercise of British power resulted from a range of influences apart from the adherence to the Concert system. British interventionism was constrained by the limitations of military and naval power, difficulties in securing co-operation with the Portuguese, and the nature of Portuguese politics and the Portuguese state. The experience and legacy of the Peninsular War also made British ministers sceptical about the potential impact of foreign interventions in the region during the 1820s. Interventions in Portugal demonstrated that Britain could not project power on a global or significant scale in areas where it did not locally command substantial war-making resources, as in India. Schroeder's emphasis on Concert diplomacy and C.A. Bayly's on global-reach fail, therefore, to capture the appropriate range of influences on power projection.     

Political economy,demography and development in Australia's Northern Territory

The Canadian ‘staples thesis’ literature has documented both the risks (in the tradition of Harold Innis) and the opportunities (in the tradition of W. A. Macintosh) inherent in economies that are dependent on the export of minimally processed natural resources. The key risk is that of retarded long‐term growth as a result of a lack of diversification and over‐dependence on foreign capital and markets. This article argues that the demographic consequences of staples approaches to development also make it difficult to achieve diversification. It profiles Australia's Northern Territory as an example of a mining‐dependent (fiscal) economy that demonstrates a particular demographic profile consistent with what might be expected of a resource frontier. The article argues, however, that restrictive demographic characteristics persist (high sex ratios, high population mobility, disadvantaged position of indigenous people and remote dwellers) even though mining has become an insignificant direct employer (less than one percent of the workforce) and the services sector drives the labour market. This persistence can be linked to the Territory and federal government expectations of economic development patterns in the region and the frontier mythology created around the Northern Territory. Addressing the demographic imbalance is a critical step towards realizing ambitions for economic diversification.     

对冯筱才先生"回应"的几点说明

冯筱才《对沈晓敏〈也谈浙江省自治运动〉一文的回应》对沈晓敏《也谈浙江省自治运动———兼与冯筱才先生商榷》一文有所回应,但冯文的某些提法及文中涉及的某些史实,仍有必要加以说明。     

论儒家资本主义学说

儒家资本主义学说主张“儒家伦理促进经济发展”,曾在学界一度流行。由于儒家资本主义学说要讨论的东亚“现代性的采借”,不同于韦伯要讨论的西欧“现代性的始发”,加之儒家和新教宗教形态、社会作用模式都有不同,“韦伯命题”对儒家资本主义学说的意义有限。儒家资本主义学说过多地依赖韦伯理论,采用单调的对勘比较法建构逻辑,就不免产生过多牵强附会的比附。儒家资本主义学说之所以流行,主要是它迎合了学术思想界一些价值需求,使得这一学说论调多于论证,最终变成一股泡沫化的“思潮”。     

The global city thesis — social polarization and changes in the distribution of wages

The global city thesis by which Sassen (1991) has linked globalization with increased social polarization has attracted much attention and caused considerable discussion over the past decade. This article illustrates divergent approaches that have been taken to the study of social polarization and provides an overview of the issues that have been discussed in relation to the polarization debate. I argue that the global city thesis has been misleading and that the empirical work underlying it has been too limited. Thereafter I test the empirical basis for Sassen's thesis in an analysis of the distribution of wages in the New York Metropolitan Area during the period 1970 to 1990.     

如何改变初中作文教学现状的一些探索

初中作文教学有与其他学习阶段不同的特点,这个阶段,激发学生作文兴趣是关键,引导学生关注生活,并能写出他们喜闻乐见的生活是要点,老师不能只是夸夸其谈,须与学生一起动手,与学生真诚的沟通与交流,在作文评讲时最好是设定教学目标,并考虑到学生学习能力和水平的现状,提出恰当的要求,训练点要小,效果才能突出。