Confucianism,Moral Equality,and Human Rights: A Mencian Perspective

This paper attempts to show the compatibility between Confucianism and human rights, first by revisiting the moral philosophy of Mencius, a key founder of the Confucian tradition, then by reconstructing the Mencian‐Confucian idea of human rights from the perspective of his moral philosophy. One of my central claims is that not only did Mencius acknowledge core human rights—socioeconomic as well as civil‐political—justified by his foundational faith in universal moral equality and human dignity, but he further understood the right to subsistence as an essential part of Confucian‐constitutional rights. Contrary to the widely received notion that in Mencian‐Confucianism the right to subsistence has an overriding value vis‐a‐vis civil‐political rights, I argue that Mencius (and Confucians in general for that matter) never stipulated such a lexical ranking among rights. I conclude by discussing how the type of Confucian moral reasoning that Mencius employs in justifying the moral value of human rights can be re‐appropriated to produce Confucian rights suitable for today. … … … … … …     

供应背德风险的规避策略研究——一个社会网分析的视角

通过文献梳理和理论演绎,对供应风险分类,并界定了供应背德风险,探究了供应背德风险的成因与其识别问题,使用社会网分析的方法进行成因识别,并给出了一个仿真算例,最后提出和分析了供应背德风险的规避策略.     

Capitalism: Intellectiials at Bay

Capitalism is unpopular with many intellectuals - teachers, preachers, playwrights, broadcasters - but popular with the people, progressively down the income scale. Historian Stephen Davies explains the self-interested hostility of the intellectuals and argues for the removal of the people's subsidy to intellectuals in the universities, the professions, and the communications media.     

提高德育效能,促进持续发展——职业学校德育工作的新视角

社会经济的发展带动产业结构调整,技术的更新换代不断加速,社会对于职业技术人才的要求也逐步提高。职业学校如何围绕学生的专业技能成长和职业道德素质提高,开展有效的德育教育活动,本文从当前教育体制下的职业学校的实际情况出发,结合新时期德育模式,探讨职业学校德育工作实施的几个步骤,提出相应的策略和方法。     

Defining Capitalism

This article aims to incorporate the essential features of capitalism in an operational definition that identifies capitalism per se (pure laissez‐faire capitalism), and clearly excludes variations such as welfare capitalism and crony capitalism. By concisely highlighting the fundamental structures and mechanisms of capitalism, this essential definition facilitates defences of it that are more robust than those ordinarily offered. It also clarifies the relation between capitalism and phenomena with which it is frequently associated, and suggests a straightforward way of identifying and measuring the extent of capitalism in mixed economies.     

Equal Rights: A Provable Moral Standard

A bstract . Our time has been characterized by growing subjectivism— which is the view that there are no objectively provable moral standards and that each individual is the ultimate arbiter for himself of right and wrong. Alienation, purposelessness and violence are some of the manifestations that would seem to follow logically from such a view, and in fact they seem more prevalent now than ever. But subjectivism is invalid in that ethics (unlike aesthetics) is a rational process, and the standards of reason are therefore the standards of ethics. The ethical standard that is provable is equal rights: specifically, that every individual has a right to his life, liberty and property , limited only by the equal rights of others. This paper attempts to show that this follows directly from the true statement that we should treat things as they are.     

Capitalism in China

Communist China, in contrast to Russia and other East European states, has a long tradition of markets. Arthur Seldon welcomes the increasing honesty with which the Chinese Government, under Deng Xaio-Ping (right), is rejecting centralised control.     

Just War: A Catholic Perspective

Just peace is the desired condition and there exists a presumption against war. That presumption may be overridden by injustice that disrupts the just peace. Once the peace is broken, war is permissible under the following conditions: the war must be declared by the legitimate authority; there must be a just cause (defense against aggression, punishment against guilt, violation of rights, defending the innocent, or protecting those values required for decent human existence); the right intention (pursuit of stated cause, pursuit of lasting peace, and right attitude) must guide the move to war; the response of war must be proportional (producing more good than evil, appropriate to remedy the extent of injustice); success in waging war is probable; conformity to international law; all other attempts to remedy the injustice perpetrated or imminently threatened must have been attempted and exhausted.     

Transfer Prices: A Financial Perspective

The arguments for and against transfer pricing schemes so far have focused on profit‐seeking approaches based on tax differentials, or on evasion of government enforced goods and fund flow restrictions. This article shifts to a value‐seeking framework where transfer prices act as strategic tools that may enhance value for the multinational with a foreign affiliate by exploiting financial and/or tax arbitrage that also lead to ownership arbitrage. The results show that there is an optimal level of transfer price depending on the specific exchange rate distribution when the cost structure allows for a penalty for overcharging. Moreover, this article introduces a new form of tax arbitrage benefit of transfer prices that is based on present value of tax shields.     

Cities in Contemporary Capitalism

This article outlines essential concepts of the political economy approach of urban research and offers critical modifications and clarifications to some of its contentions concerning the functioning of cities as ‘strategic places’ of capital accumulation. The interrelations between contemporary capitalism and urban economic development are discussed at the scale of a transnationally extended urban system. Based on the general context of the global economic downturn, I focus on the role of cities in distinct circuits of capital, the switching of capital flows within the urban system and the different functional roles of cities within the world city network that interconnects cities both in the global North and South. I call into question the established focus of urban economic research on the role of cities as financial and service centres, arguing that cities might redirect their economic development trajectories towards ‘real economy’ activities, in contrast to relying on the disastrous development model of finance‐dominated capitalism.     

Hungary Shares in Capitalism

Hungary has long been to the fore in East European attempts to introduce elements of the market into communist economies. Peter Falush, a Hungarian economist now working in London, discusses the latest step towards capitalism, the guarded encouragement of a capital market.     

审计监督的政治学思考

审计监督具有鲜明的政治意义,审计监督本身及其所反映出的种种问题的实质就是“围绕公共权力而展开的活动”,应结合政治学来探索审计监督的本质和发展规律,并推进审计工作进一步发展。     

Development and Wealth: A Georgist Perspective

This essay addresses concerns of economic and wealth distribution, especially as they challenge the developing world. The foundation for any new framework of economic thought must embody a structure that allows for a sustainable future, not only for individuals but also for whole societies and economic units, and the assurance of minimal standards of living for the entire world's people. The Georgist position is that all the natural resources of the earth and sky should require payment back to society for the privilege of their use. Hence the recovery of rent is the proper source of finance for government services, restoring what is otherwise an imbalance between the public and the private realms of society. The Georgist philosophy offers economic justice and clarity of vision, restoration of and protection for the commons, and protection for the environment of the earth in a deft and gentle way that is within the capacity of governments to implement.     

Targets and Resources: A Screening Perspective

To secure funding for a project, an agent (informed about the project's type) announces a target output. The principal provides more generous resources for high targets but makes compensation tied to performance relative to the projection. The incentive mechanism is geared towards screening project/agent types for resource disbursement at the ex‐ante stage and motivating appropriate efforts at the interim stage. These dual objectives are embedded in an optimal share contract solution: a pair of startup funds and output share between the principal and agent. The target mechanism's performance is then assessed with respect to implementation of the optimal share contract solution. The focus is on linear contracts for their applicability and practical relevance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.