Indeed, Confucianism as a whole suddenly became the best culture for development because it emphasized hard work, saving, education and submission to authority. And then Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Korea also started doing well, so this judgement about the different varieties of Confucianism was forgotten. But when Japan succeeded, this thesis was revised to say that Japan was developing so fast because its unique form of Confucianism emphasized co-operation over individual edification, which the Chinese and Korean versions allegedly valued more highly. Until Japan became rich, many people thought East Asia had not developed because of Confucianism. When Catholic France, Italy, Austria and southern Germany developed rapidly, particularly after the Second World War, Christianity, rather than Protestantism, became the magic culture. So, in the early days of capitalism, when most economically successful countries happened to be Protestant Christian, many people argued that Protestantism was uniquely suited to economic development.

9 in the Prospect magazine’s World Thinkers 2014 poll.“Not being able to see this, culture-based explanations for economic development have usually been little more than ex post facto justifications based on a 20/20 hindsight vision. He is the winner of the 2003 Gunnar Myrdal Prize and the 2005 Wassily Leontief Prize. Worldwide, his books have sold around 1.5 million copies. By the end of 2014, his writings will have been translated and published in 36 languages and 39 countries. His main books include The Political Economy of Industrial Policy, Kicking Away the Ladder, Bad Samaritans, 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism, and Economics: The User’s Guide. In addition to numerous journal articles and book chapters, he has published 15 authored books (four co-authored) and 10 edited books. Ha-Joon Chang teaches economics at the University of Cambridge. This implies, he argues, that there is a need - or even a duty - on the part of any responsible citizen to learn some economics and engage with debates on economic issues. He will emphasise how economics is an inherently political subject, as its early name, political economy, suggest. In this lecture, drawing on his latest best-selling book, Economics: The User's Guide, Chang argues how economics is not a science, as many economists claim it to be.

Ha joon chang economics user guide