He is also an economist who makes a "deviant" sound, this great historian, writer and thinker
Sima Qian was a great historian, writer and thinker. In fact, he is also an excellent economist.
In "Historical Records: Biography of Huo Shi", Sima Qian analyzed the economic development trajectory before the Qin Dynasty and the economic development situation during the Western Han Dynasty, studied the achievements and social influence of economists such as Fan Li, Zigong, and Bai Gui, and formed important economic thoughts and Results.
He also took the lead in revealing two economic categories, establishing his important position in the history of Chinese economic doctrine.
First, it is pointed out that the development of commodity economy is the driving force behind economic and social development.
China's feudal society generally implemented an economic policy of "repressing business". Sima Qian had a unique insight and understood the nature and trend of the commodity economy very early.
He believes that the pursuit of wealth is the nature of society. The division of labor in various industries, the quality of things, these economic phenomena are all driven by "human desires" and move naturally according to their own laws. Therefore, people follow the way, "The good ones follow it, the next is the benefit of the way, the next is the teaching, the next is the order, and the lowest is the fight with it."
In an era when rulers despised the idea that "little people are better than profit", Sima Qian made a "deviant" sound and inspired people to explore the natural way of economic development.
Second, discover the economic phenomena and laws that fit the concept of "average profit rate".
The average profit rate is an important category of economics, revealing the universal laws of capital flow in commodity economic society.
For a long time, it has been generally believed that it was first discovered by Westerners - proposed by Adam Smith in "The Wealth of Nations", recognized and further elaborated by Ricardo, and finally perfected by Marx, who scientifically gave the average rate of profit Calculation formula.
In fact, Sima Qian discovered economic phenomena and laws that fit the concept of "average profit rate" much earlier. He analyzed the situation of being "unfeng" and getting rich. The so-called "Sufeng" people, that is, those who have no official title and no title but are richer than the title of a king, have a capital profit rate of 20%.
He also further studied the profit-making and living conditions of "honest businessmen" and "corrupt businessmen". The former's pursuit of capital profits is limited to the average profit rate, while the latter's pursuit of capital profits exceeds the average profit rate. The result is that honest officials are like "the honest officials will stay richer for a long time, and the honest officials will return to the rich." Practice has proved that honest businesses have fewer risks, small profits but quick turnover, and can win the market and stay in business for a long time.
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