Editor's Note
The sound of wind and rain reading, the sound of the ear
Family affairs, state affairs, world affairs, everything is concerned
In the view of Professor Lin Yifu of Peking University
The real study is in the heart
It is the hills in the chest, the things that are seen
Reading is about reason
It's more about being clear
By reading thousands of worlds
He put forward economic theories suitable for China's development
It was a dream of national rejuvenation
He is a Chinese scholar of this era
Common faith and admiration
This issue of Peking University Scholars' Study
Let's walk in together
Lin Yifu's study
Look for dreams of national rejuvenation and human development
Text | Wanlin
Along the unnamed North Road, Langrun Garden, which has experienced a hundred years of vicissitudes, is safely located. In the winding paths and corridors, many economists who have returned from overseas study gather to share their views on the current world situation and the country's political economy in a quiet and transformative land.
The office of Lin Yifu, a famous economist, honorary dean of the National Development Research Institute of Peking University and president of the Institute of New Structural Economics, was located in the park.
01 Chest with hills
The real study is in the middle of the vast world
Books are not necessarily the ones bought and collected, the real books may originate from colleagues, from friends, may be a corner of the city or in the vast world of the countryside, as Confucius said, "I am not as good as the old garden", everyone around them has something worth learning, and their cognition constitutes a study.
Pushing open the door, a whole wall of wooden bookshelves comes into view, and the brown-red bookcase without any embellishment is as solemn and ancient as the scenery outside the garden, hundreds of books are neatly arranged. From ancient classics such as "Three Hundred Poems of Tang Dynasty" to modern policies such as "Research on the Implementation of the Rural Revitalization Strategy in Rural Areas", the small bookshelf condenses the power of Bogu and Tongjin.
When introducing his study, Lin Yifu only said lightly: "My study is my office, there is a row of books; there are also offices at home, and there are also books." ”
In Lin Yifu's view, the real study is not like this. The real study is in the heart, a state of mind, a desire to learn, a hill in the chest. "A large piece of fake me with an article", the real study is not limited to this square world, but wherever it goes, it is taken to wherever it is. "It could be on the road, on an airplane, in a train; even in a meeting, in a report, in a survey. But the heart has always maintained a curiosity about things, phenomena, and society, and wants to understand the truth behind it. ”
In Lin Yifu's understanding, the sound of wind and rain reading and reading sounds are in the ears; family affairs, state affairs, world affairs, and everything is concerned. Every voice deserves to be cared for, and every phenomenon should be thought about. Lin Yifu said: "If we regard paying attention to society and the times as reading books, we are reading all the time."
02 Read again and again
Treasured is the most fundamental wisdom
Some books are lost, some books are left in place because of moving, but there are always a few books that will always stay, stay around, stay in the mind, those books have been read twice or three times, and with new experiences will be written on it. "If I can give up any book in the future, I will also leave and treasure the few yellowed books."
"There are a few books that I treasure wherever I go, no matter how many times I move, and there are not many books like that, but they may be the most fundamental."
As a young man, Lin Yifu dabbled in a wide range of books, astronomy, geography, history, philosophy, and every understanding of the world was entered into his mind. Later, after going to college and entering the research institute, Lin Yifu's books began to become professional. Although he has read countless books, in Lin Yifu's view, "the important thing is not how much books are bought, but how much they are left behind."
Some books are lost, some books are left in place because of moving, but there are always a few books that will always stay, stay around, stay in the mind, those books have been read twice or three times, and with new experiences will be written on it.
In Lin Yifu's eyes, there are some classic books, such as Zhu Xi's "Notes on the Four Books", Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching", Liu Zu Huineng's "Tantra Sutra", "Diamond Sutra", etc., which are the wisdom left over thousands of years, the Tao of preaching and teaching karma to solve puzzles, and the classics that are read no matter which line and which karma. "If I can give up any book in the future, I will also leave and treasure the few yellowed books."
When it comes to the choice of e-books and paper books, Lin Yifu believes that in different eras, it is always necessary to choose the corresponding most helpful carrier. In the past, there were no e-books, only paper books, and some ancient books and classics did not even have an index, and the search for information depended on knowledgeable knowledge. Now it is different, most of the knowledge information can be electronic, the requirements of knowledge and strong knowledge are much less than before, but in the era of knowledge explosion, only by understanding the truth behind various knowledge can we flexibly use knowledge, Lin Yifu repeatedly mentioned, "Any knowledge is a sword carved into a boat, can not say wrong, can not say that it is necessarily right." ”
03 Reading Mingli, "Mingming Reason"
Contribute to social development
On the one hand, we must appreciate the world written by the writer and understand the wisdom of enlightening life in the book; on the other hand, we must speculate and understand why the author can understand these truths. "Reading is therefore reasonable, but rationality is diverse and constantly changing, and it is more important to learn how to 'be clear'."
When talking about the purpose of reading, Lin Yifu mentioned that "reading is so sensible", and the purpose of Mingli is to contribute to the development of society. The gentleman's business is born of the original and the Tao, but what is our essence. "When I come to Peking University to study, I am the top talent in the country, so I must be clear about what we are as a member of this group of people." In Lin Yifu's eyes, it should serve the country and society and contribute to the development of mankind.
"The reason we understand should be able to help the world we live in develop better, and whenever we think about it, we will reflect on whether reading is enough." Now the most of the theories in the books read in university education are summarized in the past experience of developed countries or to solve past problems, the world is constantly moving forward, developed countries and developing countries also have differences in conditions, it is obviously not enough to find answers from books, can we improve our understanding of the phenomena and problems of our own times through reading books, and grasp the theories that can serve the social progress of our own countries? Such doubts also sowed the seeds for Lin Yifu's later creation of new structural economics.
As Mencius said, it is better to believe in books than to have no books, and although reading is important, it is also extremely crucial to understand how to read. Years of life experience have made Lin Yifu believe that any theory is that a blind person touching an elephant is also carving a boat and seeking a sword, and any book is the result of a blind person touching an elephant and carving a boat and seeking a sword, so the best way to read a book is like going to an art museum to admire famous paintings. As an appreciator, both reading and appreciating art are emotional. When you enjoy the exhibition, your heart will be greatly satisfied. But when our goal is to be a painter, the mentality of looking at painting is different.
In front of the famous paintings of the Louvre, there are many painters and masters who come from afar to copy these ancient relics, and in the eyes of these painters, the purpose of copying is not to paint the image, but to understand the reasoning behind the famous paintings. The principle of painting is very simple, using lines, composition, and color, but the background of the times and the feelings expressed by the author behind it are the most shocking to the viewer.
This is the same as the principle of reading, on the one hand, to appreciate the world written by the writer and understand the wisdom of enlightening life in the book; on the other hand, to speculate and understand why the author can understand these truths. "Reading is therefore reasonable, but rationality is diverse and constantly changing, and it is more important to learn how to 'be clear'." Otherwise, as Cheng Hao said, "although there are many, I also think about it."
04 Observe, think
Cheer for the arrival of a new era
"A better China that has won more respect from the world and a China that has made greater contributions to the well-being of mankind is developing rapidly, and Chinese scholars who are interested in engaging in economic theory work must know how to seize the opportunity to change the current way of teaching and researching economics."
Many people know Lin Yifu because of his legendary life, but he deserves the admiration of students. Behind this scholar, there is a feeling that is more precious than theory than honor, that is, insight into the world situation, confidence in China's future, and responsibility for the country and society. He believes that his responsibility as a scholar lies in answering the questions of the times and overcoming the problems of the times.
Taking finance, an important part of the modern economy, as an example, the purpose of finance is to serve the real economy. Most of the current financial textbooks are translated from developed countries, especially the United States, and the theories in the books are summaries of the past successful experiences of developed countries and solutions to the problems of developed countries.
Modern financial theory is mainly concerned with corporate financing and asset pricing, these two sets of theories are applicable to developed countries, because in these countries, the main enterprises are large in scale and capital-intensive, and their operation needs a large amount of capital support, mainly relying on large banks, corporate bonds, and stock markets to meet financing needs. At the same time, their technology is at the forefront of the world, technological innovation relies on their own research and development, the risk is very large, how to price the value of the company's stocks, bonds and other assets has become the focus of modern financial theory together with corporate finance, this theory is very helpful to how developed countries to financial services to the real economy.
On the land where we stand, more than 80% of jobs are created by small farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises in manufacturing and services, more than 70% of GDP is produced by them, and 50% of tax revenue is contributed by them. They have no way to issue corporate bonds, they can't go public, they can't use venture capital, and they can't get financing from big banks. Farmers and MSMEs need financial support to operate, and to increase productivity, they must also have better investment in technology and equipment, and they also need financial support, but the modern finance and asset pricing discussed in existing textbooks cannot give answers.
"We have to think about what kind of theories can help developing countries like China to understand what the characteristics of the real economy of these countries are, what form their financial needs will be presented, what characteristics they have, and what methods can be better met."
From 2008 to 2012, when Mr. Lin was Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, he saw that economists at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were well educated, many of whom graduated from prestigious universities and studied modern finance. But when they go to a small country in Africa with a per capita GDP of less than a thousand dollars and a population of less than ten million, the advice they give is to develop stock markets, venture capital, and big banks as the developed countries, because this is what is learned in textbooks.
Today's Chinese average GDP has reached 10,000 US dollars, the population has exceeded 1.4 billion, there are large enough to need the support of large banks, there are advanced enough to use the stock market, venture capital support, but even in China, there are still 80% of the people, if only with the financial arrangements suggested in the textbook, can not meet the financial support they need for operation and development. "We must observe the phenomena in our own country, understand the nature of the problem, come up with new methods, and give answers to the problem."
Lin Yifu believes that proposing new theories to solve China's problems is not only the responsibility of Chinese intellectuals, but also an opportunity for Chinese intellectuals. "I have always believed that the center of the world economy is the research center of world economics, and the center of the masters of world economics." Any theory is a simple system of causal logic, and the importance of the theory depends on the importance of the phenomenon explained or the problem solved.
After the Industrial Revolution, Britain was the most developed country and the center of the world economy, so from Adam Smith to Keynes in the 1930s, the world's famous economists were either British or foreigners working in Britain; after World War II, the United States became the world's economic center, the United States' problem became the world's most important problem, and the world's famous economists were either Americans or foreigners working in the United States. At PPP, we have already surpassed the United States in 2014. Based on market exchange rates, we are also on track to become the world's largest economy by 2030.
It can be seen that the center of the world economy is gradually migrating to China, the importance of China's economic phenomena and problems in the world is constantly rising, understanding phenomena and problems is close to the water and the first to get the moon, and the world's economic research center and the center of the masters of new theoretical ideas should also be transferred to China.
Theories from China can not only better solve China's problems, but also, as a developing country, China's conditions are more similar to those in other developments, and theories from China can help other developing countries solve their problems better than theories from developed countries.
A better China that has won more respect from the world and made greater contributions to the well-being of mankind is developing rapidly, and Chinese scholars who are interested in engaging in economic theory work must know how to seize the opportunity to change the current way of teaching and researching economics. Based on this original intention, Lin Yifu pioneered new structural economics, founded Lin Ban, deeply explored Chinese phenomena, formed new theories, and prepared for the arrival of a new era on the historical stage of great changes.
Biography
Lin Yifu is a professor and honorary dean of the National Institute of Development Studies at Peking University. Dean of the Institute of New Structural Economics, Peking University, Dean of the School of South-South Cooperation and Development. In 1994, he founded the Center for Chinese Economic Research of Peking University (now the National Institute of Development Research, Peking University) and served as its director. In 2008, he was appointed Chief Economist of the World Bank and Senior Vice President for Development Economics, becoming the first person in a developing country to take on this important role. In 2012, he completed his tenure at the World Bank and returned to Peking University to continue teaching and research. Lin Yifu is currently a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, deputy director of the Economic Committee, counselor of the State Council, full-time vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, member of the Seventh to Tenth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and deputy to the Eleventh National People's Congress. He has worked part-time in various committees and leading groups related to development policy, agriculture and poverty reduction at home and abroad.
He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1986, was a Foreign Fellow of the British Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for Developing Countries (formerly known as the Third World Academy of Sciences), and an honorary doctorate from auvergne University in France, Fordham University in the United States, university of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, London School of Economics in the United Kingdom, University of Leuven in Belgium, University of British Columbia in Canada, City University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The Open University of Hong Kong, and The University of Macau Polytechnic University.
His major works include "The Quest for Prosperity: How to Rise the Developing Economy", "New Structural Economics", "From the West Tide to the East Wind: My Thoughts and Suggestions on Major International Economic Issues in the Four Years of the World Bank", "Interpretation of China's Economy", "Interpretation of World Economic Development", "Ontology and Constant Absence: Dialogue on Economic Methodology", "Economic Development and Transformation: Trends of Thought, Strategy and Self-Reliance", "The Miracle of China", "System, Technology and China's Agricultural Development", "Re-examination of System, Technology and China's Agricultural Development", etc. more than 20 volumes. He has published more than 100 papers in academic journals at home and abroad.
Source: Peking University