The second volume is full of glory and splendor in the capital, and the spirit is full of energy in the foggy city. Chapter 218 I, the Holy Grail (IV)
Chapter Subtitle: Participants of the Doctoral Dissertation Defense
"Ding-ling-ling..."
Friday morning, April 29, 1921.
Fuyuki City, Fuyuki Academy... No, New York City, New York University, Vice President James Bryant Conant's office.
The vice president of NYU picked up the phone on his desk and said, "This is James. Where are you from..."
His expression became serious, and he said respectfully, "Mr. Clark, it's an honor to receive your call..."
Since the educator was so respectful, the "Mr. Clark" on the other end of the phone must be John Bates Clark.
Remember, this tenured professor at Columbia University is a leading figure in the American economics community?
He was actually born in England, but later came to the United States with his parents and attended Amherst College in Massachusetts.
This name may be unfamiliar to most Seres, but this is one of the best liberal arts colleges or liberal arts colleges in the United States.
In the ranking of liberal arts colleges in the United States, it is second only to Williams College, the best in the United States.
Like the NYU College of Arts and Sciences where Ms. Tang Baokun studied, this college is also a true aristocratic school.
In the 21st century, the tuition for an undergraduate degree at Amherst College for one academic year is between 400,000 and 500,000 RMB... Without a full scholarship, a poor person definitely cannot afford to go there.
After completing his undergraduate studies in the United States, Clark went to Germany to study economics under Karl Knies, a representative of the Historical School.
This man holds a special place in the history of Western economics. Even in 21st-century Serbia, he remains a key topic in adult self-study exams. This alone demonstrates the importance of Master Knies.
Therefore, if you want to be in the academic circle, you must have a good teacher.
Therefore, when introducing the masters of economics, we really, really, really have to explain their schools of thought.
Incus heard that during the period from 1872 to 1875 when Clark was studying with Knies, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk and Friedrich von Wiesel, two of the three giants of the Austrian School, also came to Heidelberg and became Knies' students..
Therefore, in terms of economics, although Karl Knies belongs to the German Historical School, his theories also have a profound influence on the Austrian and American marginalist schools.
After Clark returned to the United States, he became interested in socialism and communism. Therefore, it is interesting that he was one of the first generation of professional researchers in the theory of communism in the United States.
However, he still could not accept Uncle Ma's labor theory of value, and later independently proposed the marginal utility theory, thus becoming a pioneer of the North American marginalist school.
This old guy can really be called the number one economist in the United States in the early 20th century. Otherwise, why would the American Economic Association Award, the most important award besides the Nobel Prize in Economics, be named after him?
So why did marginalism become so popular in the capitalist world in the early twentieth century?
Because this group of scholars viewed society as the sum of individuals, this was absolutely consistent with the most popular individualism at the time.
This is the importance of philosophy. The popularity of a certain school of thought in the humanities caters to the overall social trend of thought at that time.
Speaking of our Master Yuan, if he really founded the "Yuan (Kai) Yan (En) Shu (Si) School" in 1921, it would actually not be a good thing.
Keynes himself did not propose the theory of macroeconomics until the Great Depression more than ten years later. At that time, everyone realized that individuals were unable to fight against the economic crisis, so he became famous.
However, a few decades later, as the free world won the Cold War, individualism and marginalism came back to life.
Yuan Yanshu couldn't wait for more than ten years, so he just went with the flow and became a member of the marginalist school, which earned him the attention of the current top figure in the American economics community.
Master Yuan will also take over Master Clark's banner and continue to carry forward marginalism.
"Mr. Clark, you also read Mr. Yuan's Socialism..."
"So you want to attend Mr. Yuan's doctoral thesis defense?! Of course! Why wouldn't we agree?"
Vice President Bonant, overwhelmed with surprise, suddenly had an idea and immediately invited him, "Would you be interested in chairing this defense meeting?"
"Okay, okay. It's an honor for NYU and Mr. Yuan. I think he will definitely agree! I thank you for your concern on his behalf. See you then."
With a clang, the Vice President put down the receiver and said happily to Professors Owen Adams and Julian Chandler in his office, "Gentlemen, you heard it too. Mr. Clark will personally chair this doctoral dissertation defense!"
The two NYU economics professors had a conflicted expression of joy and regret on their faces. They were happy that they could teach a student like Master Yuan who was well-received by the American economics community, but they regretted that they would not be able to chair the defense meeting.
In fact, the three of them were also discussing the doctoral thesis defense. It was already the end of April, and the school year would end in a month, so the thesis defense would naturally take place in May .
However, given Professor and Professor Chandler's academic status, they were completely unable to compete with Mr. Clark. They both said in unison, "That's great..."
Just then, the phone on the desk rang again.
"Ding-ling-ling..."
"I am Conant, and you are..."
"Mr. Irving Fisher, are you also interested in attending Mr. Yuan's thesis defense?"
"Oh, why do I say that? Because Mr. Clark has agreed to be the chairman of this defense meeting."
"Okay, okay, we'll let you know when the time comes."
Vice President Conant was very happy to receive the call from the Yale professor. In fact, Irving Fisher would also be very happy in the future because of this call.
Our Master Yuan is a good person after all, a good person who thinks well of others.
Now that someone is helping him to enhance the value of his doctoral thesis, he will be able to help the founder of mathematical economics in the future and will not let Mr. Fisher go completely bankrupt.
Well, actually Yuan Yanshu took into consideration the reputation of economists and his Los Angeles School.
Just imagine, if a well-known economics master failed in stock trading and could not even pay the rent, this would cause unnecessary misunderstandings among the general public.
During the Great Depression, Irving Fisher lost nearly $10 million... Yes, $10 million in 1930. He also lost the savings of his wife, sister, and other relatives.
In the end, Yale University had to buy his house and rent it to him to prevent him from being evicted by his creditors.
The vice president put down the receiver again. Just as he was about to turn around and tell the two professors the second piece of good news, the phone on the desk rang for the third time...
"Ding-ling-ling..."
