To celebrate the 60th birthday of New China, Guangdong Economy Publishing House launched a major series of academic books named 100 Most Influential Economists in the 60 years of New China’s Economic Development, with both important theoretical value and practical value. Its characteristics are as follows:
First, broad representation. The books were edited by renowned scholars under the leadership of Economic Research Magazine, including works of the most influential economists in the 60 years of new China’s economic development. These works were chosen based on the recommendation of an evaluation committee consisting of well-known economists, through the democratic process. Some works aroused great repercussion in the academic circles at that time, such as The Commodity Production and the Law of Value under the Socialist System by Gu Zhun in 1957, which triggered a wide range of academic contention; some works played an important role in promoting the economic development, such as Responsibility System in Agricultural Production and Rural Economic Restructuring by Du Runsheng, which laid a solid foundation for the final establishment of household contract responsibility system; some works were the academic benchmarks, such as New Population Theory by Ma Yinchu and China’s Bureaucratic Capital Theory Analysis by Wang Yanan, which have been selected into “Ten Influential Economics Works in New China’s Economic Development”.
Second, high integration of theory and practice. The selected works are of great academic value and practical value, integrating theory and practice closely. The integration of theory and practice embodied in these selected works is not only a requirement on these economists of that time, but also credited to the experience and background of these economists. Most selected economists experienced the traditional economic system, thus had a profound understanding and experience of the system. In addition, they penetrated into the grass roots for investigations and studies, deepening theoretical research in practice. Many economists were directly involved in the government’s economic policy formulation, and had the opportunity to fully apply their research results in the actual work.
Third, the books provide important new materials for us to understand the history of new China’s economic ideas, and are essential materials for recording academic history. The books include masterpieces of 104 economists since the founding of New China. Some works solved a number of theoretical and practical problems in economic development; some works caused a wide range of academic discussion; all of these works are masterpieces in the economic circles since the founding of New China, especially the reform and opening up. These important economists and their important works should not be ignored when looking upon the history of new China’s economic ideas. For example, when talking about economic reform in rural areas, we can not fail to mention Du Runsheng; when talking about development economics, we can not fail to mention Zhang Peigang; when talking about the population problem, we can not fail to mention Ma Yinchu’s New Population Theory; and when talking about enterprise-related issues, we can not fail to mention Jiang Yiwei’s Enterprise-based Theory. (By Cheng Jinzhui)
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