Michael wrote:
Paul deserves criticism for his summary of Shleifer -- he is far too gentle. Shliefer
insists that market-induced competition does not create undesirable consequences. It
is non-market corruption that is bad.
Response Jim C: I have been invited to present a paper in Beijing at Tsinghua
University at the upcoming conference on Sept 1-2 on The International Symposium on
the Reform of Property Rights & Enterprise Development in Transitional Countries.
My paper is on the "The Evolving Concept of Social Capital, Markets, Market-Based
Processes and Socialist Construction."
The paper argues that capitalism requires certain fundamental institutions, values,
norms, power relations/structures, etc (social capital) for its expanded reproduction
and the requisite fundamental social capital of capitalism is fundamentally
contradictory to those fundamental institutions, values, norms, power
relations/structures requisite for socialist construction--even allowing for diverse
definitions of what socialism and socialist construction is all about. The social
capital of capitalism, as in the case of social capital in general, involves
institutions designed to foster some degrees of trust, hope, cooperation, social
cohesion and buying into the system on the part of the masses even as market-based
forms and levels of competition, values and behaviors associated with methodological
individualism--along with the core relations and survival imperatives in capitalist
competition--undermine that social capital and objectively--and
measureably--cause/reinforce mas!
s cynicism, loss of hope, loss of social cohesion, social darwinism, loss of trust,
fraud, environmental decay and inevitable trajectories/vicissitudes/trends that cause
loss of mass belief in the system itself. The paper argues that the core imperatives
and power-relations/structures of survival in capitalist competition are
self-contradictory and undermine the requisite social capital of capitalism (necessary
for its expanded reproduction) itself as well as being fundamentally in contradiction
with--and hostile to--the requisite "social capital" of socialist construction
The paper argues that socialism is about dictatorship of the proletariat, changing
"human nature" itself and progressively pulling up the poisonous weeds of capitalism
and pre-capitalism (productive relations, ideas, myths, traditions, institutions,
power relations/structures, etc) and that although China faces myriad challenges and
horrible historical legacies that must be addressed, along with increasing hostility
and threatening machinations from U.S. imperialism thus making rapid development of
material forces even more imperative for survival and socialist construction of China,
all capitalist/market-based institutions are fundamentally contradictory to socialist
construction and should be regrarded as tactical compromises (as Lenin honesty
characterized the NEP in Russia) for the purposes of strategic advance and not a new
model of socialist construction to be emulated elsewhere.
I have been asked to moderate a workshop on the question of whether or not capitalism
is being restored in China--or has already been restored in China--with proponents of
the thesis--that capitalism is being/has been restored in China--(of which I am not
one)invited to debate the question with scholars from Tsingua and other Chinese
universities who anxiously await the debate.
I also note, that the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard,
originally one of the sponsors of the Symposium, is no longer listed as one of the
sponsors and I wonder if the machinations of Schleiffer had something to do with that.
Place: Tsinghua University, Beijing
Time: September 1-2, 2004
The International Symposium on the Reform of Property Rights
& Enterprise Development in Transitional Countries
INVITATION
Dear Professor:
I am very pleased to invite you to take part in the International Symposium on the
Reform of Property Rights & Enterprise Development in Sino-Russian Economic
Transition, which will be held in Beijing on 1-2 September, 2004. The participants
will include some distinguished scholars of this field from China, Russia, the United
States, Britain, Japan and other countries, about 20 from home and overseas
separately; high officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, State
-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council,
Development Research Center of the State Council $B!$ (JFinance and Economics
Commission of NPC, Law Commission of NPC, and distinguished entrepreneurs from both
state-owned and private-owned enterprises and foreign corporations.
Main topics of the forum are as follows:
(1) Comparative studies on goal models and characteristics during the transitional
period of property rights reforms in transitional countries;
(2) Studies on the polices and legal environment of property rights reforms in
transitional countries;
(3) Governance problems of transitioned enterprises;
(4) Insights into the financial marketlization in the process of the property
rights reforms
(5) Comparative studies on the impacts on macro-economy by the reform
Special topics and discussions concerning enterprises will be also held during the
symposium, such as:
(1) Modes of modern corporate system: Managerial characteristics of enterprise
operation, production, finance, items and customers
(2) Financing problems of enterprises under government macro-control
(3) How do private enterprises, especially hi-tech enterprises, raise capital
except from banks?
(4) Other hot issues in current economy
Thanks very much for your coming and the title & abstract of your paper. You are
welcome! Moreover, if you haven $B!G (Jt submitted the abstract of your paper or if
you want to make some modifies of it, please be sure to send it to the meeting
committee by August 10.
For special participants, your meal & accomodation expenses will be taken by the
organizer. Participants please check in at Jin Chun Yuan Hotel in Tsinghua University
on August 31, participants from Beijing may register in front of the main building of
Tsinghua University before 8:30 a.m. ,Sempember 1.
For more detail, please contact the meeting committe at :
Institute of Economics, School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Tsinghua University,
Beijing, China, 100084
Tel: (86-10) 62795269 $B!$ (J62782771, 62773812
Fax: (86-10) 62773812, 62789333
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Contact: Dr. Wang Yong
Looking forward to hearing from you soon. If you have any questions, please feel free
to let me know.
Best wishes
Sincerely yours,
Organization Committee of International Symposium on Reform of Property Rights
&Enterprise Development in Transitional Countries
Professor Liu Meixun, Director of Institute of Economics, Tsinghua University
July 25, 2004
The International Symposium on the Reform of Property Rights & Enterprise
Development in Transitional Countries
A name list of part of the participants
1.Ministerial Officials & Scholars
Chen Qingtai , Vice-Director of Development Research Center of the State Council
Shao Ning, Vice-Director of State -owned Assets Supervision and Administration
Commission of the State Council
He Jiacheng, Vice-Director of State -owned Assets Supervision and Administration
Commission of the State Council:
Wang Wenze , Member of Finance and Economics Commission of NPC
Jiang Qiangui , Member of Law Commission of NPC
Bai Yingzi, Head of Corporation Administration of the State-owned Assets Supervision
and Administration Commission of the State Council
Zhang Delin, Head of Bureau of Policy and Law of the State -owned Assets Supervision
and Administration Commission of the State Council
Di Na, Head of Department of Mid-Size and Small Corporation of the National
Development and Reform Commission
Zhang Chunlin, Deputy Expert of World Bank to China
2.Experts &Scholars from Colleges and Research Institutes in China
Prof. Zhang Weiying, Principal Assistant of Peking University, vice-Dean of Guanghua
School of Management,
Prof. Hu Anang, School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University
Prof. Wei Jie, School of Economics & Management, Tsinghua University
Prof. Yang Ruilong, Dean of School of Economics, Renmin University of China
Prof. Bai Baoli, Vice-Dean of School of Economics, Beijing Normal University
Prof. Wang Tianyi, Central Communist Party School
Li Zhaoxi, Researcher of Development Research Center of the State Council
Prof. Wang Zhenzhong, Mao Tianqi, Chen Xiaoxu Institute of Economics, Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences
Prof. Lu Nanquan, Xu Xin, Li Jianmin, Institute of Russian, Eastern European & Central
Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Prof. Li Xin, School of Economics, Shanghai University of Finance &Economics
There are also scholars and experts from Fu Dan University, School of Economics at Nan
Kai University, Institute of World Economics & Politics, Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, and so on.
3. Part of Participants from Russia and Other Countries
Academician Abalkin, Russian Science Academy, Director of Institute of Economics (4
people)
Prof. Kulakov, Mikhail Vasilievich, Former Vice-Principal of Moscow University
Prof. Koshkin Vitaly, Dean of Russian Transition and Enterprise Higher College
Prof. Semenov Sergey, Principal of School of Russian National Civil Servant
Administration
Professor Kohdrashova Ludmila, Research Center of Russian Social Sciences
Cai Linhai, Ph.D, Chief Researcher of Strategy Institute of Hitachi Company (Japan)
Jim Craven, Professor of Economics and Chairman of the Business Division,
Clark College, U.S.A.
Martin Dimitrov $B!$ (JPh.D, Department of Government, Dartmouth College;
Davis Center for Russian Studies, Harvard University.
4. Omitting of Corporation List (including large scale State-owned enterprises,
distinguished private-owned business and foreign companies)
