觀察者推薦語：2011年11月2日，哈佛校刊《哈佛政治評論》報道了當天哈佛大學本科生退出著名哈佛經濟學家曼昆主講的經濟學必修課，參加抗議華爾街的示威運動的消息；并全文刊登了學生致曼昆的公開信。陳平教授建議中國經濟學界的教師和學生們讀一讀這封公開信，因為曼昆的教科書在中國的影響比美國還大。中國過去30年全盤引進美國主流經濟學的教科書，固然擴大了中國經濟學的傳統眼界，但也誤導了一代經濟學人以為新古典經濟學代表唯一的經濟學真理，對中國的教育和決策的彎路留下深刻影響。中國的經濟發展走在世界前列，但是中國的經濟學教育和經濟研究卻落后于世界前列。希望關心經濟學未來的有識之士，要擺脫從書齋中做學問的習慣，從當代社會對經濟學的挑戰中，找到自己的研究方向。
致格雷格曼昆的一封公開信：
2011年11月2日，星期三
親愛的曼昆教授，
今天，我們離開經濟學十講（Economics 10，曼昆）的課堂，為了表達我們對于這門導引性的經濟學課程中之根深蒂固的偏見的不滿。我們深切地擔憂這些偏見將影響到我們的同學，我們的大學，以及我們所身處的整個社會。
作為哈佛的本科生，選修這門課程，是希望能獲得有關經濟學理論的基礎知識，幫助我們進一步在經濟學、政治學、環境科學、公共政策等諸多學科和知識領域中作出深入思考。然而，我們發現這門課程，對于我們認為已經問題重重且對不平等束手無策的經濟，持一種特殊而且有限的看法。
真正合理的經濟學研究，必須同時包含對各種經濟學簡化模型之優點與缺點的批判性探討。由于在您的課程中不涉及第一手資料，學術期刊中的關鍵文獻也并不充分，因此我們幾乎無法接觸其他可供選擇的路徑來研究經濟學。認為亞當•斯密的經濟學原理就比其他任何理論，例如凱恩斯的理論更重要、更基本，這是毫無道理的。
對一門聲稱要為將來進一步研究經濟學打下基礎的課程來說，采取一種無偏見的觀察經濟學的視角，對于這個課堂上的700名同學來說尤為重要。許多哈佛學生沒有能力選擇經濟學十講之外的課程，因為此課程除對于經濟學、環境科學以及公共政策學學生來說是必修的。當社會學專業必須選擇一門經濟學導論課程時，唯一的另一門可供選擇的課程——Steven Margolin教授的經濟學批判卻每隔一年才開設一次（今年就沒開課）。許多其他專業的學生只是希望在高質量的通識教育中獲得對經濟學的簡單理解。更為嚴重的是，經濟學導論使得后續的經濟學課程難以有效地展開，因為它僅僅提供了嚴重偏激的觀點，而不是為其他課程的拓寬提供堅實的基礎。不可能寄希望于學生們以躲開這門課，或者阻止整個經濟學學科來表達他們的不滿。
哈佛畢業生在全球金融機構和公共政策領域都扮演著極為重要的角色。如果哈佛不能使學生們具備關于經濟學之更廣博與更具批判性的思考，他們的行為將會危及全球金融體系。近五年來的經濟動亂已經充分證明了這一點。
今天，我們將加入波士頓的行走隊伍，抗議高等教育的公司化，聲援全球的“占領運動”。由于經濟學十講中不公正的本質不僅不僅是美國經濟不平等的象征，甚至應當為這一嚴重社會后果負責。我們今天走出課堂，不僅是反對您對于有偏見的經濟學理論的討論不夠充分，而且我們還將投身整個運動，去改變美國關于經濟學的所有不公正話語。曼昆教授，我們希望您會認真對待我們的想法和今天的罷課行為。
經濟學十講的學生
【英文原版】
An Open Letter to Greg Mankiw
The following letter was sent to Greg Mankiw by the organizers of today’s Economics 10 walkout <http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/11/2/students-protest-Ec-10/> .
Wednesday November 2, 2011
Dear Professor Mankiw—
Today, we are walking out of your class, Economics 10, in order to express our discontent with the bias inherent in this introductory economics course. We are deeply concerned about the way that this bias affects students, the University, and our greater society.
As Harvard undergraduates, we enrolled in Economics 10 hoping to gain a broad and introductory foundation of economic theory that would assist us in our various intellectual pursuits and diverse disciplines, which range from Economics, to Government, to Environmental Sciences and Public Policy, and beyond. Instead, we found a course that espouses a specific—and limited—view of economics that we believe perpetuates problematic and inefficient systems of economic inequality in our society today.
A legitimate academic study of economics must include a critical discussion of both the benefits and flaws of different economic simplifying models. As your class does not include primary sources and rarely features articles from academic journals, we have very little access to alternative approaches to economics. There is no justification for presenting Adam Smith’s economic theories as more fundamental or basic than, for example, Keynesian theory.
Care in presenting an unbiased perspective on economics is particularly important for an introductory course of 700 students that nominally provides a sound foundation for further study in economics. Many Harvard students do not have the ability to opt out of Economics 10. This class is required for Economics and Environmental Science and Public Policy concentrators, while Social Studies concentrators must take an introductory economics course—and the only other eligible class, Professor Steven Margolin’s class Critical Perspectives on Economics, is only offered every other year (and not this year). Many other students simply desire an analytic understanding of economics as part of a quality liberal arts education. Furthermore, Economics 10 makes it difficult for subsequent economics courses to teach effectively as it offers only one heavily skewed perspective rather than a solid grounding on which other courses can expand. Students should not be expected to avoid this class—or the whole discipline of economics—as a method of expressing discontent.
Harvard graduates play major roles in the financial institutions and in shaping public policy around the world. If Harvard fails to equip its students with a broad and critical understanding of economics, their actions are likely to harm the global financial system. The last five years of economic turmoil have been proof enough of this.
We are walking out today to join a Boston-wide march protesting the corporatization of higher education as part of the global Occupy movement. Since the biased nature of Economics 10 contributes to and symbolizes the increasing economic inequality in America, we are walking out of your class today both to protest your inadequate discussion of basic economic theory and to lend our support to a movement that is changing American discourse on economic injustice. Professor Mankiw, we ask that you take our concerns and our walk-out seriously.
Sincerely, Concerned students of Economics 10
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