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Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Pope Leo XIV And St. Augustine's Contributions To Economics
Pope Leo XIV as missionary, Bishop and Cardinal, followed and lived according to St Augustine's ... More teachings. Picture of Cardinal Prevost by Franco Origlia, St Augustine painting by Botticelli at Ognissanti Church, Tuscany, Italy The election of Pope Leo XIV, a member of the Augustinian Order, has renewed interest in the teachings of St. Augustine (354-430). The Order of St. Augustine (OSA), although not formally founded until 1244, drew its inspiration from the rules for monastic life established by the saint. Augustine's numerous works cover mostly theology, philosophy, biblical exegesis, apologetics, and pastoral matters. In some of his writings, though, we can find principles helpful for business and economics. A recent well-researched article by Matthew Becklo captured what I have also heard from various Augustinians: The Pope is 'a man thoroughly drenched in Augustine's theology and spirituality.' Following St. Augustine, he understands that 'the Church isn't striving to create heaven here on earth; instead, it's striving to draw earth up into heaven.' With this caution in mind, what were St. Augustine's views regarding earthly policy? The State Noted Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950) writes in his History of Economic Analysis: 'The accomplished author of De civitate Dei and of the Confessiones—whose very obiter dicta reveal analytic habits of mind— [never] Augustine's view of the state is deeply rooted in his theology, particularly as outlined in his seminal work The City of God (De civitate Dei), where he describes two cities, the City of God and the Earthly City. The first comprises those who live according to God's will and love God above all else. It is eternal and governed by divine justice. Members of the second live according to self-love and seek worldly power. This 'city' is temporal and marked by pride, conflict, and disorder. 'City of God' - from miniature by St. Augustine (translated by Raoul de Presles), 15th century. ... More Upper enclosure represents saint who have been received in heaven. The seven lower enclosures represent those who are preparing themselves, through Christian virtues, for heaven, or who are excluding themselves by committing capital sins. SA: Also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, Bishop of Hippo Regius (present-day Annaba, Algeria). Latin - speaking theologian and philosopher of Roman region, 13 November 354 28 August 430. (Photo by) *** Local Caption *** Augustine's reflections on this Earthly City inform his views on political economy. Dino Bigongiari summarizes Augustine's view of the state thus: '[The immoral] are the ones whose needs have called into the existence the political State. The State is necessary because the people, with all their greed, with all their desires, would otherwise soon have exterminated themselves.' The State helps to maintain relative peace and order in a fallen world, but Augustine never saw it as a means of salvation. Those who follow St. Augustine's writings do not idealize the state. Salvation lies solely with God and the Church; love for God and neighbor must guide political economy. Some brief yet essential passages in Augustine address private property, business profits, economic value, and the relationship between law and justice. To continue, I will briefly elaborate on these ideas. Private Property It makes little sense to speak about private property in the 'City of God,' but here on Earth, we see evils such as conflict, war, and injustice. Private property (as Thomas Aquinas later argued) does not eliminate these evils but does help to mitigate them. Augustine urged detachment from material goods but did not advocate the abolition of private ownership. Private property, he argued, was not divinely ordained but a human construct—created and regulated by humans and the authorities of civil society for practical purposes. 'It is by human right,' he wrote, 'that we say this estate is mine.' God has given the earth to all, but human laws make private ownership useful and tolerable; after original sin, this better accords with humanity's fallen nature. Augustine wrote, for instance, in opposition to a heretical sect called the 'Apostolics': 'The people styled 'apostolic' are those who arrogantly claimed this title for themselves because they refused to admit married folk or property owners to their fellowship, arguing from the model of the many monks and clerics in the Catholic Church. But such people are heretics because they cut themselves off from the Church by alleging that those who, unlike themselves, marry and own property have no hope for salvation" (De haeresibus 40). Closely connected with private property is the reality of business and profit. Business, Augustine wrote, 'is like eating, a morally indifferent act, which can be good or bad depending on the ends and the circumstances." Pedro de Aragón, a 16th-century Augustinian theologian, expounded: 'It is not business, but businessmen, who can do evil.' Augustine stressed that true poverty is in the heart. The Theory of Value There is a chapter in The City of God titled 'The distinctions among created things and their different ranking by the scales of utility and logic.' Augustine's reflections here had an immense influence on later economic thought. In the divine order and in the order of nature, 'living things are ranked above inanimate objects; those which have the power of reproduction, or even the urge toward it, are superior to those who lack that impulse. Among living things, the sentient rank above the insensitive, and animals above trees. Among the sentient, the intelligent take precedence over the unthinking: men over cattle.' But in the earthly order, utility—usefulness for man—is the main determiner of value. In Augustine's words: 'There is another gradation which employs utility as the criterion of value. On this other scale we would put some inanimate things above some creatures of sense…. For instance, would not anyone prefer to have food in his house rather than fleas?' The Late Scholastic notion of just price was also influenced by Augustine's theory of value, which states that the value we place on goods depends on the utility we derive from them. Since our needs and desires are subjective, utility is subjective as well. According to Schumpeter, Aquinas relied on Augustine once again when arguing, 'The just price of things is not fixed with mathematical precision, but depends on a kind of estimate, so that a slight addition or subtraction would not seem to destroy the equality of justice.' Augustine himself acknowledged that it is common to try to buy low and sell high, but emphasized that fairness is the moral course to follow in any transaction. For instance, he speaks favorably of a man who paid the fair price for a book even when the seller was offering it at a lower price. Justice and Law Augustine developed the notion that unjust laws are not true laws: a law, to be such, has to fulfill certain requirements. As we know, few things are more important for an economic system that leads to integral human development than the institutions of justice and the rule of law. 'Without justice,' Augustine wrote, 'there is no realm, nor province, nor city, nor hamlet, nor house, nor family, nor even a band of robbers and highwaymen that can last.' In Book IV of The City of God we read: 'If justice is taken away, then, what are kingdoms but great robberies? For what are robberies themselves, but little kingdoms? The band itself is made up of men; it is ruled by the authority of a prince, it is knit together by the pact of the confederacy; the booty is divided by the law agreed on. If, by the admittance of abandoned men, this evil increases to such a degree that it holds places, fixes abodes, takes possession of cities, and subdues peoples, it assumes the more plainly the name of a kingdom, because the reality is now manifestly conferred on it, not by the removal of covetousness, but by the addition of impunity. Indeed, that was an apt and true reply which was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride, 'What you mean by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, whilst you who do it with a great fleet are styled emperor.'' A dictum of Augustine's was, "That which is not just seems to be no law at all' (On Free Will I.5). To be just, a law must derive from the law of nature in accordance with the rules of reason and usefulness to man. The just law must also be possible in the context of the customs of the country. It must be formulated by the one who governs the community, but it may not exceed his power as a lawgiver. The subjects should bear the burden of the law in accordance with proportional equality. Pope Leo XIV. (Photo by Simone Risoluti - Vatican Media via) Pope Leo ... More XIV's economic teachings will likely follow and provide clarity to traditional Catholic Social Doctrine, but concrete economic policy recommendations will come from economists, not the Church Conclusion: The Church and Economics We should not exaggerate the Pope's influence on today's policy discussions. For instance, despite Pope Francis's more interventionist views, his Argentine compatriots elected Javier Milei, whose free-market views were the most radical in the country's history. During the electoral campaign, one of Milei's mentors even advocated breaking relations with the Vatican. And this was despite the fact that over 60% of the Argentine population is Catholic, compared to approximately 20% in the United States. This may give some indication of what influence we might expect Pope Leo's views to have. The Catholic Church's social doctrine, in which Leo XIV is very well versed, establishes that the concrete economic policy solutions is not a matter of dogma but of prudential decisions. The battle to choose the best policies is a task of the Earthly City. It is a great help, however, to have in the highest recognized moral pulpit someone who recognizes the autonomy of economic science and, at the same time, provides moral direction and clarity. Josh Gregor, jgregor@ contributed to this piece
Associated Press
28-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Applying Economics, Sociology, and Management Theories to Drive the Rapid Development of SLKOR and Kinghelm
In an era where technological leaps like artificial intelligence (AI) have yet to catalyze a new Kondratieff Cycle of economic renewal, businesses grapple with geopolitical turbulence, trade wars, and cutthroat competition in saturated markets. Amid this landscape of uncertainty, SLKOR and Kinghelm defy the odds, achieving an 80% compound growth rate in 2024 while solidifying their global brand presence. While emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) have advanced rapidly in recent years, they have yet to trigger a new 'Kondratieff Cycle' capable of spurring large-scale economic growth. Geopolitical tensions, trade tariffs, and cutthroat competition in saturated markets have created a complex global landscape. In this environment of 'intense rivalry,' companies risk losing their foothold if they falter. Yet, amidst these challenges, SLKOR and Kinghelm achieved an 80% compound growth rate in 2024, with their brands gaining international recognition. Mr. Song Shiqiang, the visionary leader behind both companies, is a grassroots economist and researcher of 'Huaqiangbei Culture.' He integrates macroeconomic theories—particularly those of the Austrian School—into practical management. Song embraces Joseph Schumpeter's emphasis on 'human innovation,' Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises' advocacy for 'trust in markets,' Adam Smith's principles of 'division of labor and free exchange,' Max Weber's 'organizational systematization,' and Peter Drucker's insights into managing 'knowledge workers.' These philosophies form the foundation of SLKOR and Kinghelm's explosive growth. Schumpeter, Hayek, Mises, Smith, and Other Pioneers I. Joseph Schumpeter's Innovation Theory in Practice Joseph Schumpeter posited that innovation—recombining production factors with new technologies, ideas, and methods—drives efficiency, quality, and economic gains. For resource-constrained SMEs, innovation is survival. In China, grassroots and SME innovations account for 90% of national progress. At SLKOR and Kinghelm, innovation manifests in three areas: technology, management, and incentives, e.g. weekly 'Innovation Star' awards foster a culture of creativity. SLKOR 's semiconductor R&D prowess, including its mastery of silicon carbide power device production since 2016 through collaboration with South Korean experts. Kinghelm 's overseas marketing team, led by Director Qiu, hosts daily 'English Corner' sessions in the office garden, paired with Luckin Coffee, rapidly enhancing language skills and market readiness. Initiatives like the 'Spring Festival Essay Contest,' 'Hometown Food Festival,' and 'One-on-One Mentorship' align with the companies' strategy of leveraging new technologies, materials, products, models, channels, and tools. SLKOR Mastered Silicon Carbide Diode Production in 2016 Innovation is non-negotiable for growth. Companies like Apple, Samsung, Huawei, SLKOR, and Kinghelm thrive by continuously evolving. Apple and Samsung, for example, compete fiercely in patents and markets while collaborating on components. In 2011, Apple sued Samsung for $2.5 billion over design patents, yet Samsung later supplied millions of OLED screens for iPhones. Conversely, Intel's stagnation—due to strategic missteps like rejecting Apple's iPhone chip request in 2006 and underinvesting in GPU R&D—led to its decline, culminating in a reported 50% workforce reduction plan for 2025. Mr. Song Shiqiang, General Manager of Kinghelm and SLKOR SLKOR and Kinghelm prioritize rapid commercialization of innovations. Recent examples include Kinghelm's high-speed signal connectors and SLKOR's SL4054 lithium battery charging solutions, adopted by European clients within months of launch. II. Adam Smith's Division of Labor and Exchange Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations attributes prosperity to specialization and free exchange. Specialization boosts efficiency exponentially, while free trade incentivizes further division of labor and technological advancement. Smith's pin factory analogy illustrates this: dividing pin-making into 18 specialized steps allowed a 10-worker team to produce 48,000 pins daily—a thousandfold increase. Similarly, SLKOR and Kinghelm optimize workflows through modular, standardized processes. Friedrich Hayek's emphasis on 'knowledge division' and price-driven coordination aligns with this approach, informing the companies' incentive structures. III. Max Weber and Peter Drucker: Organizational Excellence Effective leadership hinges on organizational design. Max Weber's bureaucratic theory ensures precision and reliability, while Peter Drucker's focus on 'effective management' maximizes productivity. Organizational Formalization, Professionalization, and Processization. Max Weber emphasized the systematization of organizational administration to ensure accuracy, stability, and reliability in work outcomes. At Kinghelm and SLKOR, each position and department requires different knowledge and skills. By aligning these capabilities with tasks and reinforcing collaboration through systems and processes, goals can be achieved more quickly. Napoleon, the French emperor, wrote: 'Two Mamluk soldiers can defeat three French soldiers, one hundred French soldiers are evenly matched with one hundred Mamluks, but one thousand French soldiers can always defeat fifteen hundred Mamluks.' Napoleon pointed out that while Mamluk cavalry were highly skilled in horsemanship and combat, the French cavalry's discipline and organizational strength, combined with teamwork, formed a powerful fighting force. Management, organization, discipline, and collaboration are the guarantees of victory! Weber's administrative frameworks are mirrored in SLKOR and Kinghelm's matrix-based, data-driven operations. Communication rules—such as text-only messaging in WeChat groups, precise meeting notices (e.g., 'R&D team meeting in 15 minutes'), and mandatory feedback loops—enhance efficiency. Team-building activities like hiking, sports, and KTV sessions foster camaraderie, translating to better workplace collaboration. 2025 Spring Team-Building Hike at Yangtai Mountain Drucker's Effective Management: Talent is Kinghelm and SLKOR's greatest asset. The companies invest in training, industry engagement, and Pareto Principle-driven prioritization (focusing on the 20% of tasks yielding 80% of results). Advanced tools, ergonomic offices with green spaces, and a culture of respect and innovation keep teams motivated. Kinghelm and SLKOR's 'English Corner' Performance is incentivized through quantifiable rewards (e.g., 1,000 RMB bonuses for solving critical technical issues) and third-party audits to ensure fairness. Aligning individual and corporate goals—as Sun Tzu's 'unity of purpose leads to victory' advises—fuels collective success. SLKOR R&D Engineers Training Sales Team IV. Entrepreneurial Spirit and Beyond Austrian School economists like Ludwig von Mises champion 'entrepreneurial spirit"—the drive to innovate, take risks, and adapt. SLKOR and Kinghelm's 30-year strategic vision, ecosystem-building, and 'benchmarking' practices (e.g., Huawei's 'Five Views and Three Determinations') reflect this ethos. Methods like 'full-capacity workflows' and PDCA cycles (Plan-Do-Check-Act) further refine their unique management style. Kinghelm Development Milestones Leveraging their official websites—which attract 200,000 daily visitors—and a global e-commerce matrix, SLKOR and Kinghelm serve as platforms for employee, client, and industry engagement. Their overseas sites also promote Chinese culture and semiconductor advancements, bolstering the 'SLKOR' and 'Kinghelm' brands as global ambassadors of quality. Media Contact Company Name: Shenzhen SLKOR Micro Semicon Co., Ltd. Phone: +86 13008868302 Address:2010, Block A, Bairuida Building Vanke City Community Bantian Avenue, Longgang District City: Shenzhen Country: China
