An Economist’s Retrospective Reflections

Abstract

In the dawn of ping-pong diplomacy, a group of Yale economists visited China. Lloyd Reynolds, in his account of the visit, related how in Peking they expressed to their hosts the wish to meet some government economists, whether planners or advisers. They were quite unsuccessful. Gradually, said Lloyd Reynolds, the awful thought occurred to us: is it possible that a country of 900 million people can be governed without any economists at all?

This also forms the final chapter of my book, A Course Through Life (1986). I would like to think that it reflects a view of the task of the economist of which my old friend, Hiroshi Kitamura, would approve.