Theory of Economic Spirit: Rational Reflections on China's Economic Reform Practices

Author: Cheng Wenjin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: The concept of economic spirit is both ancient and young. It is ancient because since the beginning of human economic activities, there have been corresponding spiritual activities, though they were initially in a "holistic" state together with human production activities. It is young because after the Industrial Revolution, with the formation of capitalist economics as a landmark, economic activities achieved their unique expansion, and economic spirit became a focal point of attention. The theoretical foundation for the existence of the market economy lies in its "economic man" assumption and its "efficient resource allocation mechanism." All models, ideologies, and theories derived from these premises revolve around them. Thus, in mainstream Western economics, the capitalist economic spirit is used to argue and explain that "profit-seeking is neutral, and its manifestations in reality are ethical," and so on. The birth of "National Economics" elevated the connotation of economic spirit to the level of nations and peoples, to some extent breaking through the abstract nature of "market principleism" and giving economic spirit a stronger sense of timeliness and reality. The establishment of Marxist economics extracted the "material-centric" characteristics from economics, determining its original "human-centric" nature. That is, explaining the purpose and path of economic development from the spiritual dimension of the relationships between people that are obscured by the relationships between people and things. As a result, economic spirit acquired such implications as "the happiness of the majority," "economic justice," "harmony between humans and nature," and "the comprehensive development of individuals." At the same time, the human-centric economic spirit Marx spoke of is concrete and historical; it is not, and could not possibly be, an abstract discussion of general economic spirit that transcends historical stages. Therefore, economic spirit has been deeply enriched by its highly practical characteristics. This is precisely the fundamental difference between capitalist economic spirit and socialist economic spirit.