ClippingKK

While there is no political body in Mexico restricting Carlos Slim’s monopoly, the Sherman and Clayton Acts have been used repeatedly in the United States over the past century to restrict trusts, monopolies, and cartels, and to ensure that markets remain inclusive.

所谓的酷吏、所谓的法吏，不是以伦理为中心的，不是道德挂帅的，但必须强调，他们的治理不是以法律为准绳，也不是提倡在法律面前人人平等的。所谓酷吏，实际上是一种权力中心主义的法家政治观，强调的是对权力的垄断。这种对权力的垄断与强调道德其实都属于人治，但是酷吏对法治的破坏作用——确切地说是对建设法治的阻碍作用，应该说要比伦理型的儒家人治更甚一筹

In 1978 the regime organized a national celebration marking the fourth anniversary of the overthrow of Haile Selassie. By this time Mengistu was the unchallenged leader of the Derg. As his residence, the place from where he would rule Ethiopia, he had chosen Selassie’s Grand Palace, left unoccupied since the monarchy was abolished. At the celebration, he sat on a gilded armchair, just like the emperors of old, watching the parade. Official functions were now held once again at the Grand Palace, with Mengistu sitting on Haile Selassie’s old throne. Mengistu started to compare himself to Emperor Tewodros, who had refounded the Solomonic Dynasty in the mid-nineteenth century after a period of decline.

The Bolshevik Revolution advertised its aim as replacing the exploitative economic system of tsarist Russia with a more just and efficient one that would bring freedom and prosperity to millions of Russians. Alas, the outcome was the opposite, and much more repressive and extractive institutions replaced those of the government the Bolsheviks overthrew. The experiences in China, Cuba, and Vietnam were similar. Many noncommunist, top-down reforms fared no better.

世界上所有的文字最早都是从音发展而来的，西方的拼音文字是这样，中国的汉字其实也是这样。早期的汉语，同音必定同义，音和义是不分的，越到后来，同音义异的现象越厉害，以至书面语和口头语的差别也越来越大，现在的同音字意思可以完全不相干，但早期往往不是这样的。汉语的发展趋势在这一点上和西方语言有点不一样

the ability of those who dominate extractive institutions to benefit greatly at the expense of the rest of society implies that political power under extractive institutions is highly coveted, making many groups and individuals fight to obtain it. As a consequence, there will be powerful forces pushing societies under extractive institutions toward political instability.

东汉中期以后的政府一直是高负债运行的。朝廷对社会的控制逐渐放松，但是放松的结果是什么呢？是出现了所谓的公民社会吗？是出现了所谓的民营企业家的盛世吗？都不是。按照贤良文学的思路，所谓放纵其实是放纵权贵，放纵那些“官倒”官商，让各级政府、各级地方权力部门都去谋利。这样的结果不是放任出了自由的平民经济，而是放任出了一个豪强大姓满天下、门阀士族势焰熏天的局面，而市场经济却日益凋敝

It was not only the economic incentives that were destroyed. The political changes that had started to take place also went into reverse. The power of chiefs and traditional rulers, which had previously been in decline, was strengthened, because part of the project of creating a cheap labor force was to remove private property in land.