From May 20 to 22, 2019, a three-day thematic lecture on advanced political economy of theoretical economics was staged by the China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR), Shenzhen University (SZU) at the international conference hall A. The keynote speaker of this lecture is Prof. Cai Jiming. He is a Visiting Professor of our school, a Professor of the School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University, Deputy Director of the Academic Committee of the Institute, Director of the Political Economy Research Center, and a Visiting Scholar of Fulbright Program of Harvard University. Prof. Cai delivered a wonderful speech focused on the themes of "mixed economy system theory and practice, the emergence and division of classical school value theory, the basic principles and application of general theory of value, the determination of general value of factor, rural revitalization, new urbanization and new land reform". Attending were doctoral and master’s students from CCSEZR, the School of Economics and the School of Management, and those from businesses.
Prof. Cai started off with the connotation of mixed economy system, discussed whether neoclassical economics and Marxist economics can move from confrontation to integration, introduced how the mixed economy system comes into being in Western countries and China, and explored the theoretical basis of it. He also introduced the periods and representatives of classical economics, and talked about Samuelson's economist pedigree. He believed that the two ideological systems in the history of economics generated from the same source, later parted ways and finally reached the same conclusion. Prof. Cai demonstrated the formation of general value through models and formulas and mentioned comprehensive productivity and comparative productivity through further formula transformation. He also introduced the operability of general theory of value, explored the principle of converting between complex labor and simple labor, and discussed the value basis of distribution according to the contribution of production factors and the issue of "international value" and the fair distribution of international trade interests. In addition, through a series of charts and data, Mr. Cai demonstrated that the core of the three rural issues (relating to agriculture, rural areas, and rural people) lies in the contradiction between rural people and land, and the fundamental way to solve it is to accelerate urbanization. Besides, he introduced a series of outcomes caused by the reverse marketization allocation of population and land resources, for example, the upsurge in housing price in the wake of price adjustments. The lecture is diverse in theme, novel in content, broad in perspective and clear in thinking. In the final Q&A session, the students and Prof. Cai conducted in-depth discussions on the China-US trade war and land reform issues.
During the three-day lecture, Prof. Cai worked tirelessly to express the important core theoretical viewpoints of advanced political economy to the participants with full enthusiasm. The students expressed that they had gained new insights about advanced political economics after the lecture, which gives them inspiration in their future research. The lecture came to a successful conclusion amidst cheering applause.
(Correspondent: Zhu Qingyan)
Prof. Cai Jiming exchanges ideas with CCSEZR graduate students
Group photo of all attendees
