Marx believed that capital originated from plunder. "Capital comes into this world, and from head to toe, every pore is dripping with blood and other dirty things."

This sentence tells the essence of the origin of capital, but it does not explain why capitalism originated in Europe rather than other countries in the world, nor does it explain why other countries in the world did not produce capitalism.

Is capitalism produced by plunder?

Looking around the world at that time, similar looting occurred in almost every corner of the world at that time. The Mongols launched predatory wars abroad, and China also launched predatory wars against neighboring countries and regions such as Viet Nam and the Mongolian Plateau.

The Ayub dynasty in Egypt also developed in Islamic civilization, and the Timur Empire in Central Asia and the Ottoman Turkish Empire in West Asia launched foreign wars respectively. Among them, the Ayub dynasty launched a foreign predatory war against neighboring countries and regions, while the Timur Empire plundered the whole Central Asia, and even prepared to launch a predatory war against China. The Ottoman Turkish Empire even launched a predatory war against Europe, but they failed to develop capitalism.

Is capitalism developed because the country is small?

From China's point of view, European countries in the Middle Ages were indeed small countries, and it can even be said that Europe was made up of small countries.

But in Islamic civilization, besides some big empires, there are also many small countries such as Mali Empire and so on.

Is capitalism produced in Europe because of division?

/kloc-In the 3rd century, there were many small countries in Europe, each with a feudal Lord, which formed a de facto independent status, but so did India in the same period. The Sultanate of Delhi nominally rules the whole of India, but the separatist forces show their de facto independence.

At that time, China was also divided, and Song, Liao, Xixia, Dali, Tubo, Uighur and other countries were in their own independent positions.

But none of them developed capitalism.

Is capitalism in Europe due to religious beliefs?

Most Europeans believe in Christianity, but from a global perspective, Christianity is not more advanced than Confucianism, Islam and Hinduism.

Is capitalism produced because of the development of science and technology and economy?

Especially in China, whether in the 10,1,12 century before the origin of capitalism, or in the 13 century after the origin of capitalism, or even in the 14, 15 century after the occurrence of capitalism.

This is the famous Needham puzzle. Capitalism did not come into being in developed China, but in relatively backward Europe. Why is this?

As a China native, I am particularly depressed. Before the origin of capitalism, during the Song Dynasty, China's total wealth exceeded half of the world, even the total wealth of other countries in the world was not as much as that of China, not to mention a mere Europe. But why doesn't China develop capitalism? But continued to maintain feudalism, which eventually led to the backwardness of modern times.

For many years, no one has been able to give a convincing answer to Needham's puzzle.

I have studied this question for many years, trying to give an answer from all sides. It will cover a wide range, including economy, religion, war, social organization and so on. Everyone needs patience.

Let's look at the essence of capitalist economy first.

The essence of capitalist economy,

Capitalism (English: capitalism), also known as free market economy or free enterprise economy, is characterized by private ownership of capital property (means of production), investment activities are controlled by individuals, not by the state, and economic behavior is aimed at pursuing profits. The main economic models of capitalism include the free flow of capital and employment, market competition and the operation of price mechanism. Under this system, most capital property is privately owned, and profits are created through employment or labor. Goods and services circulate in the free market through money. Investment decisions are made by private individuals, and production and sales are mainly controlled by companies and businesses and compete with each other. It is generally believed that capitalism has become the most important economic model after the collapse of feudal system in the western world.

To sum up, capitalism is essentially a market economy. In the capitalist world, commodity exchange has become the mainstream of social economy.

Let's look at the market economy from a modern perspective.

We went to work in the enterprise, paid the labor, and got the salary income at the same time. When we work, we are producers, and when we get the means of subsistence with wages, we are consumers.

A person may not be a producer, but he may not be a consumer. If a person is not a consumer, then his life can't last and he can only starve to death.

When our wages rise, we will be happy, but at the same time, the prices necessary for our lives will also rise. Whether we are still happy depends on the situation.

If the increase in wages exceeds the increase in prices, then we will be happy.

If the increase in wages equals the increase in prices, then we won't feel that our income has increased.

If the price increase is greater than the wage increase, our life will be hard. But as long as you can survive, you can only swallow it.

If prices rise further faster than wages, so that we can't make a living through normal wages, several things will happen. Some people will starve to death, others will commit crimes and make a living from the proceeds of crime.

If prices rise faster than wages, it will lead to a large number of people unable to make a living, which will lead to social unrest and even civil war.

So, what is the relationship between wages and prices?

Suppose a garment factory has 10 workers, each of whom produces 300 shirts on average every month, then the whole factory produces 3000 shirts a month, and the factory owner earns 30,000 yuan a month, and the average monthly salary of each worker is 3,000 yuan. In this way, the average labor cost per garment is 10 yuan, the fixed expenditure of the factory is 27,000 yuan, and the procurement of raw materials is 33,000 yuan. In this way, the total monthly expenditure of the factory is 90,000 yuan, and a shirt costs 30 yuan.

However, the boss will not sell his own products according to 30 yuan, but will add his own profits on the basis of 30 yuan, such as 10%, that is, 3 yuan money, so that the shirts will be sold at the price of 33 yuan.

If a worker wants to buy a shirt, he can only spend 33 yuan to buy a shirt. In this way, workers can buy 90.9 shirts for a month's salary.

If workers now demand a salary increase from the original 3,000 yuan to 3,900 yuan per month, the output remains unchanged, the fixed cost and the price of raw materials remain unchanged, and the total monthly expenditure of the factory is 99,000 yuan, then the average cost allocated to each shirt is 33 yuan. If the boss still sells shirts according to 33 yuan, the boss will have no profit at all, then the boss will raise the sales price of shirts, that is, 10.

If a worker wants to buy a shirt, he can only spend 36.3 yuan. Such a worker can buy 107.4 shirts for a month's salary.

We can say that the actual purchasing power of workers' wages has increased.

However, if at the same time, the property management personnel of the factory also ask for an increase from the original 3,000 yuan to 3,900 yuan a month, and the workers of the raw material suppliers also ask for an increase from the original 3,000 yuan to 3,900 yuan, then the cost of the factory owner will rise, and he will also raise the rent of the clothing factory owner, the cost of the raw material supplier will also rise, and the price will also rise to the clothing factory owner.

In this way, the factory rent of the clothing factory owner rose to 32 100 yuan, and the cost of raw materials rose to 42,900 yuan.

In this way, the total monthly expenditure of clothing factory owners becomes 1 14000 yuan.

So the cost of each shirt becomes 1 14000/3000=38 yuan.

Then the clothing factory owner sold it at 4 1.8 yuan.

Workers can buy 93.3 shirts in a month's salary.

On the surface, the actual purchasing power of all workers' wages has increased.

This model is what is usually called a self-sufficient natural economic form. Under the natural economic form, there is no exchange or little exchange, and there is little commodity circulation.

But the natural economy also has its own advantages, that is, the natural economy is conducive to controlling the rise in prices.

However, in the form of commodity economy, things are different. Commodity economy also involves the exchange and circulation of commodities.

Specifically, the workers didn't buy shirts directly from the factory owner.

There are also traders in reality.

If a wholesaler buys all the shirts at a price of 4 1.8 yuan, and then sells them to retailers at a price of 5 1 yuan, the workers can only buy 69.9 shirts in a month's salary, so the actual purchasing power of workers' wages drops.

In real life, workers need not only shirts, but also many consumption materials, such as food, medical care, tuition, transportation and so on.

As the wages of all workers in the whole society rise, the cost of all products in the whole society rises, which also leads to the price increase of all products in the whole society.

In the natural economy, the rise of wages and prices often offset each other and reach a basic balance.

However, in the form of commodity economy, due to exchange and circulation, the rise of wages lags behind the rise of prices.

The faster the commodity economy develops, the greater the gap between wage growth and price growth.

In modern terms, the faster the GDP growth, the more the price increase exceeds the wage increase.

The slower the GDP growth, the closer the price increase is to the wage increase.

This is why the state should control the growth of GDP to reduce the increase of prices and wages to a certain extent.

But as long as GDP is developing, the increase in prices will always be faster than the increase in wages, just a matter of more or less.

This is the problem. If GDP continues to develop at a high speed, prices will be higher and higher, far exceeding the wage level.

As a bottom person, life will be very hard.

Under normal circumstances, as long as people can barely make ends meet, people will not riot.

However, if the further development of GDP leads to the price level exceeding the income of some people, and these people can't survive on income alone, they will take risks and embark on the road of crime. If they can't survive by committing crimes, they will starve to death.

If GDP develops further, the price level will exceed the income of many people, which will lead to social unrest and even war.

As the essence of commodity economy, all countries in the world in 2 1 century are like this, and so are all countries in the world in 13 century.

So, is it possible to make GDP develop at a high speed and people's wages rise, while keeping prices at an acceptable level?

Yes

It is indeed possible, and there is more than one way.

First, technological progress.

Second, international trade.

Third, plunder.

Let's look at the technological progress first.

Technological progress and social division of labor complement each other. Technological progress promotes the development of social division of labor, which in turn promotes technological progress.

We can also regard labor as a commodity, and the price of labor is determined by value and influenced by the relationship between supply and demand.

The progress of technology makes it possible to create greater value by mastering advanced technology, and at the same time, there are always a few people who master more advanced technology, which shows the scarcity of labor.

In this way, the price of labor force can be raised, that is, people's income level can be raised.

However, the progress of technology has further refined and specialized the social division of labor.

The refinement of social division of labor in turn promotes the increase of exchange times.

And the increase of exchange times leads to the high price of the final product.

Or take the clothing factory as an example.

Technological progress has led to the emergence of two new technologies, printing and embroidery, but the cost of shirts with printing and embroidery will rise and the price will be higher.

So what is the relationship between prices and wages caused by technological progress? Does it cause the price to rise faster than the wage, or the wage to rise faster than the price?

For a country, technological progress cannot happen in all aspects of the country at the same time. There will always be some industries that have made great technological progress at a certain time, while others have made little technological progress at the same time.

For example, when new technology is adopted, a garment factory worker changes from producing 10 shirts to producing 13 shirts every day, but at the same time, a farmer may still produce as much grain as before in a year.

However, the price increase is much more average across the country.

When the price of shirts in a city rises, the demand will be in short supply, and the price of shirts will rise.

Then businessmen from other cities will immediately transport shirts from other cities to this city for sale, thus increasing the supply of shirts in this city and making the price gradually become the same as that of other cities.

If the national average level of technological progress is taken as the baseline, the wage increase of industries above the baseline exceeds the price increase, and the wage increase of industries below the baseline is lower than the price increase.

Therefore, technological progress can only ensure that when the country's GDP rises to a certain extent, the increase of prices and wages tends to be consistent. But it can't fundamentally solve this problem.

In order to ensure that when GDP rises, the increase in prices tends to be consistent with the increase in wages, other conditions are needed.

International trade refers to the exchange of goods and services between different countries and regions.

International trade can reduce the price level of importing countries.

For example, when the price of shirts in China rises to 100 yuan, and the price of shirts in neighboring Vietnam is only 50 yuan, then importing shirts from Vietnam can reduce the price in China.

However, when Vietnamese shirts arrive in China market, they will inevitably compete with China's products, which will reduce the price of shirts made in China to a certain extent, while when the price of products made in China is reduced, it will inevitably reduce the profits of China shirt enterprises, which will lead to the decline of workers' income.

It can be seen that import will reduce the goods of importing countries to a certain extent, but it will also reduce the national income of importing countries.

International trade can also increase the national income of exporting countries.

If a shirt is sold for 100 yuan in China, but 200 yuan is sold in Japan, then the shirt enterprises in China will get higher profits than in their own countries, thus increasing the income of the workers in the shirt enterprises to some extent.

The increase in the income of workers in shirt export enterprises will inevitably lead to an increase in the wages of workers in domestic shirt enterprises. You will fall into the problem of proving the relationship between prices and wages as shown in the above example, which will inevitably lead to an increase in prices in exporting countries.

Then, is it possible to increase national income by exporting high-priced products in international trade, and at the same time, to import low-priced products to reduce the domestic price level?

In theory, there is, but in reality, no country is another country's ATM. When an international country implements such a policy, other countries will take trade countermeasures, that is, reduce trade with that country.

It can be seen that international trade can only maintain the balance of price and wage growth in a country to a certain extent. But it can't fundamentally solve the problem.

Plunder.

There are two kinds of plunder, one is internal plunder and the other is external plunder.

Internal plunder refers to the forced transfer of the income of some people in China to others through certain policies or methods.

This can offset the balance of rising prices and wages of other people to some extent. Can let this group of people continue to develop.

However, this will lead to the hardship of the plundered people and even lead to social unrest or war.

Foreign plunder refers to plundering resources and wealth from other countries by means of war, in order to improve the national income level, stabilize domestic prices, make domestic price increases and income increases tend to be consistent, and even income increases faster than price increases.

It can be seen that the war of foreign plunder is the most effective means to maintain a country's price and wage growth.

But there are the following risks in foreign wars:

1, the risk of failure.

When a country launches a war against another country, other countries often don't just sit back and wait, but generally fight to the death. For the countries that started the war, if they win, they will naturally get wealth, but if they lose, they will not get any wealth.

2. Risks of costs and benefits.

Whenever there is a war, it will involve military expenditure. If the plundered wealth cannot offset the military expenditure, then the war will not offset the increase in domestic prices and wages. It may even lead to further price increases. It has brought difficulties to national life.

Therefore, the most effective way to maintain the balance between domestic prices and wage growth is to plunder the history of foreign wars, but there is a premise that the wealth brought by wars is far greater than military spending.

The real war is often much more complicated than this, but this is the role of war in the economy.

What I said above is an economic phenomenon in contemporary society. Has nothing to do with the Needham problem?

As the laws of commodity economy, as long as the commodity economy exists for one day, these laws will work. Whether it is slave society, feudal society, capitalist society or socialist society.

The relationship between rising prices and rising wages is the same for slave owners and slaves in slave society, landlords and peasants in feudal society, capitalists and workers in capitalist society and entrepreneurs and employees in socialist society.

Technological progress, international trade and plunder all play the same role in slave society, feudal society, capitalist society and socialist society.

Then, can we draw a conclusion that in Europe in the13rd century, due to the development of commodity economy, some people lived in poverty, so Europeans launched foreign wars and plundered wealth to maintain the increase of prices and incomes, so that the European commodity economy could continue to develop and finally embarked on the capitalist road.

If the fact is really that simple, then any economist, even someone who knows a little about economics, can explain the problem that capitalism originated in Europe, and the Needham problem will not become the Needham problem.

The article comes from Tianya community landlord: Rui Rui Clothing Time: 2014-04-10/4: 08: 00.

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