ABSTRACT
The Harvard economic historian David Landes poses a fascinating question in his book, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. More broadly, Landes argues, the key factor Europe had, and China did not, was a market economy, one that encouraged free enterprise, rewarded innovation, and protected private property from seizure by kings, emperors or governments. In this chapter, the authors summarise the classic Judaic view as follows: Governments are necessary for defence and the maintenance of social order. But state action always stands in need of justification, because any government, however democratically elected, ipso facto represents a curtailment of certain fundamental rights such as the right to enjoy the fruits of one's own labour. What Tit-for-Tat and Generous show is that those populations survive and thrive who practise the two fundamental ethical principles of the Judaeo-Christian tradition – reciprocity and forgiveness, or what used to be called justice and mercy.
