What Is a Political Economy?
Political Economy (Political Economy), broadly speaking, is a discipline that studies economic activities, economic relations, and economic laws of social production, capital, circulation, exchange, distribution, and consumption. The first person to use the term "political economy" was France's Antoine de Montclair, who published the book "Political Economics for the King and Queen" in 1615. Adam Smith believes that it is the science that studies the "generation and distribution of national wealth". At present, the term macroeconomics is widely used in the world.
political economy
(A discipline independent of politics and economics)
- Political economy , broadly speaking, is the study of a society's production, capital, circulation, exchange, distribution, consumption, etc.
- Political economy with historical production relations or certain
- Political economics, as a science that studies the laws governing the production and exchange, distribution, and consumption of material means of life at various development stages of human society, provides a theoretical basis for other disciplines.
- Political economics first studies the special laws of each individual development stage of production and exchange, and only after completing such research can it establish a few, completely general laws applicable to general production and exchange. At the same time, it goes without saying that the laws applicable to a certain mode of production and exchange form are also applicable to all historical periods with this mode of production and exchange form. For example, with the adoption of metal currency, a series of laws applicable to all countries and historical periods applicable to the use of metal currency for exchanges came into effect. [3]
- The conditions under which people live in production and exchange differ from country to country, and from generation to generation in each country. Therefore, political economy cannot be the same for all countries and all historical times. There is a long way to go from bows and arrows, from exchanges of stone knives and barbarians, which are only exceptional, to thousands of horsepower steam engines, to mechanical loom, railways and the Bank of England. The inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego have not reached the level of mass production and world trade, nor have they reached the level of bill speculation or exchange bankruptcy. Who wants to put the political economy of Tierra del Fuego and the political economy of modern Britain under the same rule, then, obviously, he can't reveal anything but the most trite clichés. Therefore, political economy is essentially a historical science. [3]
- In "Anti-Dulin Theory" Old Preface · Dialectics, Engels stated that the theoretical thinking of each era, including the theoretical thinking of our era, is a historical product. It has a complete history in different times. Different forms have completely different contents at the same time. Therefore, the science of thinking, like other sciences, is a kind of historical science and a science of the historical development of human thinking. This is also important for the practical application of thinking in the field of experience. Because, first of all, the theory of the law of thinking is not an "eternal truth" done once and for all, as the mediocre mind thinks of the word "logic". Wang Yanan said: In order to draw everyone's attention to work together in this regard, I once proposed the term "Chinese economics". I do not intend to build a school like the ordinary vulgar, and this school is not built with nouns. [27]
- The logic and methodology of Capital Theory is genetics. It is directed at research and speaking "history", and aims at promoting and advancing the economic construction of the meaning of launching the "Copernicus Revolution" in history, so that the category is implemented on the basis of critical principles and in the historical regulations. However, bourgeois vulgar economics "reversed" this path and theoretical practical actions, and promoted vulgar hermeneutics and non-critical scientific claims, aiming instead to reduce economics to a special category of natural science. The characteristic of its theoretical work is to carry out the world-presupposed composition of social cognition to fully play with hermeneutic language practice to seek the highest form and norm of natural scientism is mathematical planning. Due to various problems, as far as China is concerned, it is mainly focused on the "misplacement" of thinking and language work styles. Marx's subsequent research efforts have failed to effectively achieve "reversal". The real way out is to realize the economic construction of "reconstructing political economy". On this basis, we need to put forward historical and practical working principles and propositions, in order to avoid the possibility of the sinicization of Chinese economics and political economics research being re-locked into the crisis of "hermeneutics." First, we should continue to adhere to the road of practical construction based on historical science. Secondly, it is necessary to prevent the attempt to implement the "sub-historical" theory in the name of "scientization" in research. Once again, you should realize that the slogan "Back to Marx" is actually false, because the authenticity approach with Marx is through history and practice, not the text itself. In the end, the path of political economic practice is ultimately aimed at breaking through the cage of bourgeois scientism thinking, and it can always be to finally lift the cage of hermeneutic language. [28]
- ..Vigotsky mentioned in "The History of the Creation of Capital": "Before Marx, no economist considered the historical aspect of research as an integral part of his theory. No doubt, The credit for creating the first true scientific history of political economy should belong to Marx. Moreover, one of the important characteristics of Marx's creative method is that the history of formulating economic science has always been parallel with him in the creation of his own theory, constituting scientific research. The process of unification ... Therefore, the history of political economics can be said to be the opposite of Marx's economic theory. It must exist at all stages of Marx's economic research, which is both the starting point and the result of such research. "" Guan Zi "Riding Horse" reads: "Landers, political foundations also. North Koreans, righteousness also. Marketers, standards of goods also. Gold, use the same amount. Land of princes, country of thousand times, equipment The system is also. The five of them can be known for their reasoning ... If you discern the principle of gold, you know luxury and frugality; if you know luxury, you can use everything and save money. Therefore, thrift hurts things, and luxury hurts goods. Thrift Gold If things do nt work out, it s hurting; luxury is expensive, but gold is cheap and hurting the goods. If you do nt know the goods, then you do nt know the quantity. If you do nt know the quantity, then you do nt know the quantity. No, it makes sense. " [29]
- Regarding the construction of Chinese economics guided by Marxism, attaching importance to tradition, serving modern times, and adhering to the road of combined development of ancient and modern, Chinese and Western development, Wang Yanan had a clear understanding of it very early. In the establishment stage of China's economic research, there are two major tasks that must be completed: (1) On the negative side, the theories that hinder China's economic understanding, especially those businessmen's consciousness that is as rampant as commercial capital, need to be relentlessly Critique; (2) On the positive side, based on the correct economic theory, the development nature, comprehensiveness, and comparative methods of the transitional nature of China's economic transition should be adopted to explore the tendencies and rules of several basic movements of the Chinese economy. This task is obviously not easy to accomplish. " [30] This is a long-term struggle and requires the joint efforts of several generations.