This book is primarily a critique of traditional (Western) economics from the perspective of Confucianism that values the pursuit of the golden mean or moderation, rather than that of maximizing utility (material-want satisfaction), profit and income. To some extent, this primer explains the basic reason why there has been a conflict between the top 1 percent and the rest 99 percent of the American people and it suggests a way of reducing this conflict. The way is to replace the self-interested economic man of traditional economics by the self-cultivated gentleman of golden mean economics in all economic inquiry.
The author was born in Hong Kong, grew up in China and Taiwan. After earning his bachelor degree in economics in Taiwan, he came to the U.S. for his master and doctor's degree in economics. He taught economics in the U.S. and Taiwan. In addition to over two dozens professional papers, he also had a book published with a title, "Paradigm Weak and Strong" in 2005, which can be considered as the philosophical foundation of this current book on golden-mean economics. In a sense, the completion and publication of this book is the fulfillment of his lifetime goal. Even in his college years, he felt something was missing in economics. This feeling became more obvious when he was pursuing his graduate degrees. He finally realized that the missing thing in economics is moral incentive (or love), which seems to completely isolate traditional economics from all human aspirations from the very beginning, as expressed in the Bible and all other sacred writings like Confucius's classic. The Great Recession and the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars intensified his feeling of disagreement with the traditional economic emphasis on the self-interested economic man's maximization assumption and attempt. From his viewpoint, economics can no longer be insulated from love and moral incentive. In this primer, he thus tries to incorporate moral incentive into economic analysis as a complement to profit incentive. In this way, the self-cultivated gentleman can be developed to replace the self-interested economic man. In his view, such replacement would not only make a human being happier or less miserable, but also make a society, particularly the U.S. economy, much less subject to injustice, hatred, violence, and falsehood. Other than his interest in revising economics, the author is a vitamin and supplement freak who swallows some four dozens caplets and capsules a day. He always wonders whether he is following the golden-mean in this respect';but seems to have no real knowledge as to the benefits and costs of his seemingly extremeness. Other than the nutritional supplements, he continues to do one of his favorite exercises since childhood. He plays ping-pong twice a week in a senior center near where he lives. In this latter respect, it appears that he has followed the golden mean. Regardless of his doubts on the moderation of his personal life, he has no doubt about the extreme inequality of income and wealth in the U.S., which creates injustice, hatred, violence, and falsehood.
