"I remember that our class did a good job in the theories of Xiao Ding and Xiao Qi, and it turned out that Xiao Ding and Xiao Qi's academic views were-for-tat, but they were very controversial back then. Why did Xiao Qi start to learn from Xiao Ding now, could it be that Xiao Qi became an official and gave up theoretical research?"

Yu Rui brought up the old thing with a smile. The personal relationship between these 6 students in the strategy class has always been very good, even if Ding Shikuan and Qi Ruicang were incompatible in terms of academic views back then, it did not affect their personal relationship. Yu Rui mentioned this point at this time, purely for fun.

Qi Ruicang smiled and said, "Sister Yu, this is a joke for me." Back then, I was also young and frivolous, and I read some things about Western economics, and I was a little ungrounded. Now that I think about it, some of Lao Ding's views are still reasonable, and I can be regarded as choosing the good ones to follow. ”

"Why, Xiao Qi, do you still have reservations about Xiao Ding's opinion?" Yu Rui asked with some surprise. Perhaps because of gender characteristics, Yu Rui has little interest in academic theory, and she can't even tell what the difference between Ding Shikuan and Qi Ruicang's respective views is. She just thinks that Ding Shikuan's theory is very popular now, and it is also appreciated by senior leaders, and it must be correct. Qi Ruicang actually said that he just chose the good one and followed it, which couldn't help but surprise Yu Rui.

Ding Shikuan explained: "Sister Yu, you are mistaken. Xiao Qi has not given up theoretical research over the years, and several academic papers he wrote on the industrial revival of the old industrial base have been published in several top foreign economics journals, which have caused great repercussions. My fame is all in China, and Xiao Qi is the real flower in the wall and the fragrance outside the wall. Last year, a top foreign publication named him the Person of the Year in Academic Theory. ”

"Really, it turns out that Xiao Qi is so amazing!" Yu Rui's eyes widened. She really didn't know about this situation, and thought that Qi Ruicang became the deputy mayor, so she had no chance with academia at all. In the eyes of the world, it is obviously more remarkable to have influence in foreign academic circles than to have influence in China, and academic achievements recognized by foreigners must be genuine.

Qi Ruicang smiled: "Just do what you like." I have indeed published papers in several international top 10 economics journals, and the response has been good. However, I am also opportunistic, I study industrial revival from the level of institutional economics, this topic is relatively hot in foreign theoretical circles, and I have the practical experience of Yubei as a case, so foreign scholars are more interested. In the past two years, some foreign scholars have come to Yubei to investigate and summarize the experience of Yubei, and some of my views were formed when I communicated with these scholars.

Last year, I quit my job at China Merchants and transferred to the Political Research Office, which actually means concentrating on theoretical research. I think the experience of Yubei is still very valuable for promotion, which involves theoretical issues such as market failure and externalities, and is also a very valuable topic in economic theory. ”

Ding Shikuan said: "I have carefully read every paper of Xiao Qi, and many of his views are very inspiring to me. However, my theoretical differences with him have not been reconciled, and I advocate that the government should lead the economy, and the role of the market should be to regulate. Xiao Qi, on the other hand, advocates market regulation, and the government is only the part that solves market failures. ”

"The role of government must be constrained, and the power of government is too much, which is very dangerous for the market. Qi Ruicang argued.

"But isn't what you're doing in Yubei just a government job? you don't want to have more power?" Xie Keli joined the discussion. He worked for the Ministry of Finance, which was undoubtedly a very powerful government department, and Shekli was definitely fighting for his department.

Qi Ruicang shook his head and said: "It is precisely because I have worked in China Merchants for several years that I have a deeper understanding that the role of the government must be restrained. Our work at Yubei China Merchants Bureau is generally effective, and everyone is very dedicated. However, it is undeniable that from the director to the ordinary staff, there are personal demands in their work, some are in pursuit of political achievements, some are in pursuit of investment incentives, and some even have ulterior private purposes.

In the ideal model of government behavior, the government should pursue the maximization of market interests. In fact, the government pursues the maximization of its own political performance, which is the deviation of the goal. For example, when we attract investment, we bring in some polluting enterprises, and the operation of these enterprises generates great externalities, and these externalities constitute the cost of the whole society. From a rational point of view, Yubei should not introduce these companies, but government officials do not think so, they think that the introduction of these enterprises will help their own political performance......"

"This is a principal-agent issue, right?" Feng Xiaochen said teasingly. He studied engineering in his previous life, but in this life he studied for a master's degree in economics, so he also has some economic skills.

"That's right, I used the principal-agent model to explain this situation, and at the same time introduced the concepts of transaction costs and property rights, and raised the question of the government's role in industrial revival," Qi said. In addition, in my work on attracting investment, I also realized that the government's decision-making is actually flawed, which can be explained by the perspective of bounded rationality, and government officials are not omnipotent, and they also make mistakes. The role of the market is to use the wisdom of multiple subjects to correct the mistakes of individual subjects, and if the government is blindly emphasized, then the government will make mistakes and the economy will be affected. ”

"I don't think you two have conflicting views. Wang Zhenbin interjected. NDPC officials also need to have a bit of a theoretical level, so Wang Zhenbin also reads economics journals on weekdays, and he is not unfamiliar with some theoretical concepts. He said to Qi Ruicang and Ding Shikuan: "I think Xiao Qi's view is that the market is the main thing, and the government is supplemented, and Xiao Ding's point of view is that the government is the main thing, and the market is supplemented, in the final analysis, it is a question of who has more and who has less." Compared to the differences between the two of you more than 10 years ago, your differences are much smaller now, I remember that Xiao Qi was resolutely opposed to industrial policy back then, and now he has been able to accept the role of the government, which is a big improvement. ”

Qi Ruicang nodded and said, "I admit that my understanding in the past was a little biased. In the past few years of working in Yubei, I have seen the role of the government in the cultivation of the market, so to speak, without the intervention of the government, with the situation of an old industrial base like Yubei, it is completely impossible to complete the industrial transformation in a short period of time and establish a preliminary market system. ”

"You may not know that Lao Qi is a staunch master of the system among government officials in Yubei. Many of the systems in Yubei were established with the help of Lao Qi, including the code of conduct for foreign investors, the regulations on fair competition in the market, and the regulations on the flow of talents. Without Lao Qi, the market rules in Yubei would not be as perfect as they are now. Feng Xiaochen introduced to everyone with a smile.

"That's right. Wang Zhenbin said, "When we were in the Planning Commission, we often invited some experts to give lectures. I have a feeling that scholars who do research purely in ivory towers will be more market-oriented, and they will be called Adam Smith and the like. And anyone who has some practical work experience, such as Xiao Qi and Xiao Ding, will give some affirmation to the role of the government. Some time ago, the central leaders made a speech in which they pointed out that China's economic development path has its own peculiarities, and that we should not completely copy Western dogmas, but should have our own theories. Although Xiao Qi and Xiao Ding have some differences in exploring China's development path, they are both insightful. I thought, why can't the two of you join hands and work together to develop a set of economic theories that conform to Chinese characteristics?"

"I do have that idea!"

Qi Ruicang and Ding Shikuan said such a sentence almost at the same time, and after finishing speaking, they found that they were surprisingly consistent with the other party, and they couldn't help but look at each other and laugh. Both of them are people with academic ideals, and they have indeed thought about creating a set of academic theories more than once, of course, as Wang Zhenbin said, they have not thought about joining forces to conduct research. At this time, when I heard Wang Zhenbin's proposal, I was inevitably a little moved.

Feng Xiaochen said: "I support Lao Wang's opinion, Lao Qi and Lao Ding are the theoretical masters of our class, the most rare thing is that they are not confined to their existing academic views, but actively participate in practice, test and revise their own views in practice, with this article, it is enough to throw many so-called masters a few miles away." China's economic practice provides a rich source of ideas for academic research, and it would be a pity not to summarize these ideas and form our own theoretical system. The two of you, one of whom is biased towards market guidance and the other is biased towards government regulation, happen to be complementary, and if you join forces to develop a theoretical system, I think it will definitely be able to cause a sensation in the entire theoretical circles. ”

"Haha, Cheng Lao's auspicious words. Qi Ruicang said briskly that he had stayed in Yubei for a few years, and his personality had become more arrogant, and he asked Ding Shikuan: "Lao Ding, are you interested in joining forces to do some research, maybe the Nobel Prize in Economics in a few years will be ours." ”

"You take the lead, I'll help you sort out the information. Ding Shikuan said in a low-key manner.

"A word is a certainty!" Qi Ruicang did not correct Ding Shikuan's modesty, he picked up a glass of wine and said to everyone: "Everyone, what the old man said just now is right, in the past 20 years, China's economic development has provided us with a rich source of ideas, whether it is to do theories, or to practice like Lao Wang and Sister Yu, we have caught up with the best times. We are still young, and we still have a lot of good times, so let's redouble our efforts and not be ashamed of this era. ”

"Yes, worthy of this era!"

Everyone stood up together, raised their glasses, and spoke loudly.

(End of Volume 2)

Qi Cheng said

The story of the 90s is finished, and some time ago I have been struggling with how to end this volume. Readers and friends may not think about it so much, but as an author, you need to consider the rhythm of the work, and the story of an era needs to end at a climax. The story of the compressor can be regarded as a small climax, and it still ends with Qi Ruicang in the end, echoing the setting of the end of the first volume (Chapter 503). The next chapter enters the third volume, that is, the story of the new century, China's equipment industry is about to go to the world.