Economics’ Prospect in China

Apr 02-2019   

Among the humanities and social sciences in China, the economics has the deepest integration with the international circle; Paradoxically China’s economic studies have often been shaped – if not taken hostage – by British and American academic orientation, cautioned NSD Dean and Professor Yao Yang in his recent speech for a seminar on the evolution and development of China’s economic studies over the last 70 years. Given China’s grand ambitions, much thought should be put into the integration of economic studies with China’s modernization process - a throwback to the 1980s when empirical research was the norm in China despite relatively insufficient theoretical build-up. It will amount to a waste of life, he said, if Chinese economists cannot offer interpretations for today’s China and its history since 1840 or even longer. Mainstream economics tend to be associated with the American one, yet very few top American economists study the real world and the majority of economists simply use economic studies to make a living. Prof. Yao also lamented the existing academic system that favors publication of papers over the most important capability – finding research-worthy topics. “China has many issues. It’s a matter of identifying the issues and digging deep. Once the paper is written, it doesn’t matter whether it’s published inside China or abroad,” he said.