Confucianism as an Engine of Economic Growth & Sustainable Development

Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Code/Title
Instructor
Date
Confucianism as an Engine of Economic Growth and Sustainable Development
Introduction
Over the last three decades, China has witnessed unprecedented economic growth, and the country is presently the second-largest economy globally. Despite Asia's late 90s financial crisis, East Asia has made remarkable socio-economic progress. Larsen has found that over 50 years ago, the average richest East Asian earned a fraction of an American counterpart, and South Korea only had the wealth equivalent to that of Sudan, and Taiwan was ranked together with Zaire in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Later in 1993, the World Bank report showed that East Asia had made significant efforts in addressing poverty, promoting growth, and the overall quality of life among citizens. According to the report, per capita income in East Asia witnessed almost fourfold growth in only a quarter of a century, and poverty levels declined by over 60 percent. Comparatively, before 1955, Brazil topped Taiwan and South Korea in import substitution, but after three decades, the financial boom ended, followed by the 1980s "lost decade" in Latin America. Atinkut, Yan, and Zhang, et al. note that the wisdom drawn from the teachings of Confucianism and Taoism are deemed essential for economic growth and sustainability. Nevertheless, China's rapidly expanding economy has been characterized by increasing environmental pollution, with the country now ranking as the top emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs) globally. As Yang, Cai, Wang et al. identify, however, a significant share of these emissions are attributed to the final consumption of Chinese exports in other countries and regions, given the fact that exports comprise about a quarter of the Chinese GDP. The success of China has been attributed to the values taught by Confucius, a great teacher and philosopher who established the Chinese cultural foundations 500 years before Christ. Studies have constantly shown that there has been a rise in East Asian economies or Confucian states such as China, and this supports the thesis that Confucianism emboldens frugality and saving, highly values education, and emphasizes hard work, which are critical engines for rapid economic growth and sustainable development in China.[Xiumei, Guo., Sandra, Krempl., and Dora, Marinova. Economic prosperity and sustainability in China: Seeking wisdom from Confucianism and Taoism. In Lech W. Zacher. Technology, society, and sustainability: Selected concepts, issues, and cases (pp.263-274). Springer, 2017.] [Chris, Larsen. Culture matters: Confucianism virtues and economics. International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education (IJHSSE), 6(2019)4, 34-42.] [Larsen, p.34] [Haimanot, Atinkut B., Tingwu, Yan,. Fengyi, Zhang,. et al. Cognition of agriculture waste and payments for a circular agriculture model in Central China. Science Reports 10(2020), 10826, 1-15.] [Yuantao, Yang., Shen Qu., Bofeng, Cai,., et al. Mapping global carbon footprint in China. Nature Communications, 11(2020), 2237. 1-8.] [Yang, Yuantao., Qu, Shen., Cai, Bofeng., et al.(p.2)] [Charles, Rarick, A. Confucius on management: Understanding Chinese cultural values and management p...