I found this article linked to Ralph Musgrave's blog. It is certainly a very striking example of capitalism from China.Tim Worstall explains that:
One academic survey found more than 80 per cent of Chinese “elites”
(those with income at least 12 times higher than the average in their
area) are descended from the pre-1949 elite.
I do not dispute the findings and to his credit Worstall does not descend into arguments about a 'capitalist gene' or such silliness. And I am certainly open to the idea of 'family' as the basic unit in capitalism and capitalist reproduction rather than the individual. I think Schumpeter went down this route in arguing about the families that mattered in the USA. But I wonder if the data actually demonstrates what the author concludes in such a clear cut manner?
Anyway, in other news, despite the horrific war, the total destruction of the country and its industry, the Nuremberg trials, occupation of the country by the allied victors, and a new democratic political order, the 1,000 families who ran German industry during the 1930s and 40s, were back running them all again by 1955. I know, not as impressive as the example above, but the Swiss border and Hong Kong (and their banks) have a lot in common perhaps?
Debate Magazine
