ClippingKK

北宋末年的蔡京、蔡下这些人，从政治脉络来说都属于新党，用过去的话说，都属于“改革派”。当然，彼时讲的改革派是指强化国家垄断的改革派，不是像现在我们讲的要搞市场经济的改革派。 两派的斗争产生的是一种“尺蠖效应”：北宋后期新党和旧党轮流执政，国家政策就像只一放一缩的尺蠖，无论如何变化，都只有利于权贵。这与尺蠖爬行时一收一缩，但只向一个方向移动不是很像吗？新党只懂得与民争利，严重损害了“阡陌闾巷之贱人”的利益；旧党只懂得放任无为，则使权贵得以放手圈钱。国家的“自由放任”只是放出了无数土皇帝，却放不出一个中产阶级；国家的经济统制统出了与民争利，却统不出社会保障

有人说这是“以论带史”，有人嘲曰“以论代史”。其实这并不是“论”多了，而恰恰是“论”极其贫乏的表现。史学不是神学，也不是经学。离开经典作家，你就不会思考了？

. The people in Southeast Asia stopped trading, turned inward, and became more absolutist. In the next two centuries, they would be in no position to take advantage of the innovations that would spring up in the Industrial Revolution. And ultimately their retreat from trade would not save them from Europeans; by the end of the eighteenth century, nearly all were part of European colonial empires.

It was the Glorious Revolution that strengthened and rationalized property rights, improved financial markets, undermined state-sanctioned monopolies in foreign trade, and removed the barriers to the expansion of industry. It was the Glorious Revolution that made the political system open and responsive to the economic needs and aspirations of society.

Extractive institutions then not only pave the way for the next regime, which will be even more extractive, but they also engender continuous infighting and civil wars. These civil wars then cause more human suffering and also destroy even what little state centralization these societies have achieved. This also often starts a process of descent into lawlessness, state failure, and political chaos, crushing all hopes of economic prosperity,

大夫和贤良文学的争论反映了中国后世王朝经常可以看到的一种现象，尽管“文武之道，一张一弛”，始终有“有为”和“无为”的斗争，但是这个有为、无为和我们现在讲的福利国家、自由放任迥异。今天我们讲的放任主要是给老百姓以自由，但是那个时候讲的放任，很大程度上是指给权贵以自由，放纵他们去聚敛，让这些当官的任意创收

British democracy was not given by the elite. It was largely taken by the masses, who were empowered by the political processes that had been ongoing in England and the rest of Britain for the last several centuries. They had become emboldened by the changes in the nature of political institutions unleashed by the Glorious Revolution. Reforms were granted because the elite thought that reform was the only way to secure the continuation of their rule, albeit in a somewhat lessened form.

大家应该明白，秦制绝不是代议制——什么出身的人当了官就会照顾其所出身的那个群体，这是荒唐的想法。秦汉时代用钱穆先生的说法是“布衣卿相”，但绝不是代表布衣的卿相，而是代表皇上整治布衣的卿相。桑弘羊可以说是“重商主义”者，他本人也是商人出身，但他绝不是商人的代表，他只是皇权的代表。桑弘羊在中国历史上是以比较重视工商业闻名的，那时很多思想家都认为工商业不重要，农业才重要，农业是本，工商是末，他们提倡“崇本抑末”。桑弘羊则不然，他认为工商业非常重要，因为其利润丰厚，但是这个利润必须由国家垄断，决不能搞自由竞争，这怎么会有利于商人呢？