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Men and nations behave wisely, once they've exhausted all other alternatives.

Note: Business 2.0 is now part of CNNmoney and some older articles are no longer available

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The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist [or] ... academic scribbler of a few years back.

I do not believe China should be forced to hold democratic elections, even if that were possible. Its population would vote for leaders who distribute wealth to the poor. But there are still 900 million farmers in China with an average annual income of $500; distribution of wealth would simply be a synonym, as it is in India, for the distribution of poverty.

The Western debate over China's political acceptability should not be cast as a simple matter of right or wrong, but of when and how. Politically, China is comparable to the United States of 1800: an emerging nation with high ideals but widespread poverty and a great many practices that other regions find intolerable. People tend to forget that the U.S. did not establish civil rights legislation until the 1960s. A decade or two of economic growth, under the shrewd and highly motivated leaders of Chung-hua Inc., will provide China's people with the necessary education in the ways of capitalism, just as working for a large corporation does the same for young managers. It will also give the Chinese people an appetite for self-determination and participation because they will see what their efforts can achieve. That, in turn, may lead to a country whose openness and capability for democracy ultimately surprise the rest of us. Already, some village leaders are elected; this may slowly spread to regional officials, and then upward to the central government.

The surest flow of expenditure to sustain the economy, wherever it is, is that of the middle-class and below. When it has money, it spends. And there's no similar assurance on more income for the affluent - that may be saved or squirreled awayÂ… there's no similar certainty of support to the economy. And the basic thrust of the corporate elite is to pay money to those who already have it and may not spend it.

I don't know whether to call it hypocritical or a crime or simply being blind, but the one thing I'm certain of is that the developed countries must open up their markets. It makes no logical sense to try and help developing countries develop their productive capacity and then deny them access to markets. It makes no sense to spend $300 billion a year on agricultural subsidies for farmers in developed countries and pass $50 billion a year as the totality of development assistance to developing countries. It just makes no sense. And so that wrong needs to be righted. It is difficult and it needs to be done over time, but we need to open markets so that the countries can develop their capacities to export, their quality of exports, and really have a chance. So I am one of those who is vigorous in the fight not about opening markets in developing countries but about opening markets in developed countries.

A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.

An economy doesn’t operate by market forces alone—it’s dependent on actions of business and consumers and government. There is a clear role for government in creating an environment in which business gets new opportunities. Yes, government should get out of spaces where it doesn’t have to be and let business do its thing. But government needs to be where there are so-called external effects, which means that additional positive value gets created from investments that businesses don’t make on their own. For example, spending on basic research is often not done by many businesses because they cannot internalize all the benefits from the investment.

The way to improve society and reform the world is to enlighten [people], spread knowledge, and convince the multitude that they have, or may have, sense, knowledge and virtue. Declamations against the cunning of politicians and the ignorance, folly, inconstancy, or effrontery of the multitude will never do.