Acceptance Speech for World Marxian Economics Award (II)

Abstract

June 17, 2016Dear scholars and comrades,It is a pleasant surprise for me to learn that World Association for Political Economy (WAPE) has granted me its World Marxian Economics Award of 2016. I am very grateful. I understand that World Marxian Economics Award is for lifetime contributions to scientific innovation with aim of encouraging prosperity and development of Marxist economics throughout world. It is my honor to receive this award.I was born in April 1932 in a poor farmer's family in Gaoyou County, Jiangsu Province, China. I know much about poverty, backwardness and social contradictions of rural life in China. I witnessed Japanese invaders burning, killing and looting in my hometown, and I saw New Fourth Army's brave resistance in anti-Japanese struggle. These memories are still fresh in my mind.I was educated first in an old-style private school for a few years and studied in a countryside primary normal school for about 2 years. I did not go to middle school because my poor family could not afford it. I studied by myself to serve, my motherland and my people. I entered Renmin University of China in 1955 to study political economy and had chance to read more classics of Marx's economic works. After graduation from university, I kept on reading and doing more research on Marx's classic works from which I have benefited my whole life.The 10 volumes of Yifeng Wu published in 2015 show what I have learnt from Marx and how to apply Marx's economics. There are four interrelated themes: research in Marxist economics, research in Western economics, research in economic theory and reality, and comparative studies of Marxist economics and Western economics. A book review entitled Development of Economics through Comparative Study-Reading Yifeng Wu Anthology in People's Daily on February 3, 2016, said that the book is grounded in reality and demonstrates thorough research on a series of core problems in Marx's economics . . . It is of great significance.Many Chinese news media affirmed my position and views. They said that I am a Marxist Economist on People's Daily, I hold fast to Marxist economic theories on Chinese Social Sciences Weekly, and I am an economist of people whose work is based on Marxism on China Economic Times.Overview of Academic Achievements of Renowned Chinese Scientists in 20th Century, as part of national key books publishing project (under Qian Weichang's general editorship), summarizes my academic achievements as follows:1. Study of Origin of Marxist Economic TheoriesBritish Classical Economic Theories and Utopian Socialism are most important works in my study of origin of Marxist economic theories.British Classical Economic Theories presents a series of new views different from similar works at home and abroad. It argues that all economists who represented emerging capitalist class in rising stage of capitalism, and who studied internal relations within capitalist mode of production and relations of production, belong to school of classical economics. Those economists who tried to conceal capitalist contradictions and class antagonism when class struggle became acute do not belong to classical school. In this book, I divide Classical British Economic Theories into three stages, namely, emergence, development and culmination, and examined theories and policy propositions of 15 representative economists from these stages with my own comments. Its publication was reported in People's Daily and Guangming Daily, and reviewed in Economic Research and World Economy. They said that the book has both theoretical depth and makes a new contribution to its field. In 1995, it won First Prize of Award for Outstanding Achievement in Humanities and Social Science Research in Colleges and Universities.In Utopian Socialism, I divide utopian socialism into four stages and discuss history of its origin, developments and gradual decline. …