Racjonalność człowieka gospodarującego w kontekście południowokoreańskiej polityki gospodarczej

The purpose of this article is to outline the concept of an economic agent as proposed by the German Historical School, its implications for economic policy and their implementation in the South Korean economic miracle, the most sustained example of strong economic growth in the 20th century. The author focuses on two key aspects of these issues in the context of rationality - the decision-making processes of a single economic agent and the divergences between the benefit to an individual and the whole economy. According to the German Historical School, the actions of an economic agent are shaped by the social environment and moreover the pursuit of wealth by individual members of society doesn't naturally harmonize with benefit to the whole economy. Therefore the government is required to take an active role in guiding the market. A careful study of the dictator Park Chung Hee's economic policy shows that it was in line with the concept of the human being characteristic of the German Historical School.