26/6/2025–|Last update: 09:19 (Mecca time)
With every sudden financial crisis or economic decision, a stream of complex analyzes and ready -made models is drawn to us, as if the economy is a rigid flag that is not arguing. However, what if most of what we promise “economic facts” is only a novel that was carefully chosen to serve certain interests?
In the “Guide to Economic Science”, the South Korean economist of British-Jun Zhang reveals the hidden side of this science that affects our daily life. Zhang Vechtak is the delusions of neutrality and objectivity in a manner full of vitality and clarity, and it re -provides the economy as a variety of dialectical flags, and we are charged with moral choices. This book does not only teach you how the economy works, but why should you doubt it, and understand it from multiple angles, not from one window.
The author is taught at Cambridge University, known as his bold monetary stances towards the prevailing economic current. He obtained a doctorate from Cambridge University, and his reputation was made thanks to his writings that combine academic depth and the smooth style directed to the non -specialized audience.
He has important books in which he presents his vision of the economy as a social and moral science linked to daily life, not just sports equations and models. Zhang is one of the global influencing voices in criticizing new liberal policies and defending a more just and realistic development model, inspired by successful historical experiences instead of abstract theorizing.
Pluralism and economics
The book stems from the hypothesis of a president that the economy is not a neutral science, but rather an arena of intellectual conflict between different schools in its visions and biases. Hence, the reduction of the teaching of the economy in the perspective of the new classic school, as is prevalent in universities in the world, is not only simplified, but also a hide of the nature of the economy. Therefore, Zhang rejects this unilateral proposal, calling for an economy approach as a diverse knowledge field, in which she coexists – before struggling – major intellectual currents, such as classic, Marxist, behavioral, and others.
The author goes on clarifying the fundamental difference between “economics” as a life and social reality, and “economics science” as a modern theoretical attempt to understand this reality. The reader recalls that economics did not crystallize until the last two centuries, while multiple economic forms have been recorded since the dawn of history, and this makes any economic approach necessarily conditional on the historical and social context.
In a rich historical tour, the South Korean author reviews the development of economic systems from agricultural societies to globalized capitalism, noting that the major economic changes were never the result of a mere scientific development, but rather came as a result of deep social conflicts and political transformations.
He also criticizes the narratives that promote the idea that Western countries have reached the luxury through the “free market”, explaining that economic protection and the state’s intervention were the cornerstone of their developmental experiences, which refutes many theses of the New Classic School.
Various effects of globalization
In the context of his dismantling of common economic Muslims, Zhang deals with criticism of free trade theories, such as the thesis of the “relative feature” of Ricardo, stressing that the commercial openness was not a reason for the economic takeoff of industrialized countries, but rather came after stages of studied protection.
It also highlights the varying effects of globalization, indicating that they served the interests of major companies and consumers in some countries, but led to the dismantling of local industries and undermining economic sovereignty in many countries of the south. In this context, he calls for a review of globalization, not a matter of hostility to it, but with the aim of reformulating it on more just and fair foundations.
The book does not lose sight of the distinction between growth and development, noting that the high national product does not necessarily mean improved the life of individuals. Development – according to the author’s vision – requires providing education, health, social justice and equality between categories, which are not expressed indicators gross domestic product. It stands a critical position on the outlook that sees the social disparity “a price that is imperative”, calling for the possibility of combining justice and growth, as it shows the experiences of a number of northern European and East Asian countries.
The moral and political dimension of the economy
One of the prominent axes in the book is the restoration of the moral dimension in economics, and the refusal of the human being to reduce a “utilitarian machine” to calculate costs and returns, where Zhang believes that every economic decision is ethical: from supporting polluted industries, to food pricing, to priorities for public spending. Instead of providing ready answers, he asks questions that require critical thinking from the reader, participating in the meditation process instead of teaching the results.
In one of the most important sections of the book, Zhang reviews 9 economic schools, highlighting theoretical and practical differences between them. It does not make this presentation between these trends as competing to prove preference, but rather as an invitation to diversify the analytical tools, allowing the reality to be read in more than one angle.
The new classic school, for example, is characterized by the formulation of coherent sporting models, but it assumes a perfect rationalism far from reality, while the behavioral school enters psychological factors that illuminate some aspects that are silent. In his opinion, this pluralism is not an indication of cognitive chaos, but rather a reflection of the complexity of economic phenomena and the multiplicity of its dimensions.
Then the author moves in the last part of the book to application, analyzing pivotal issues such as inflation, unemployment, financial markets, economic crises, and the role of international institutions. It is concerned with criticism policies liberalism The new that was imposed on the countries of the south, such as the unified recipes of the International Monetary Fund, which ignored local peculiarities, and often led to the exacerbation of poverty, not to its treatment.
He believes that economic options are not purely scientific accounts, but rather political positions in their essence. The choice between controlling Inflation Or reduce Unemployment For example- it cannot be separated from the class and social biases of the ruling authority, and this makes the economy a general field that requires discussion and accountability, not exclusive to experts and technicians.
The value of the book
Zhang’s style is characterized by a combination of clarity and depth, simplifying theoretical concepts without being flattened, and uses life examples, illustrative tables and graphs to facilitate understanding. What enhances the value of the book is that he does not address the specialists alone, but rather is directed to the general reader who seeks to understand the economic transformations that affect his life, without necessarily a student of the economy.
The book was met with a wide welcome from readers and those interested in the world, especially those looking for alternatives to the prevailing new classic proposal. He was also criticized by some conservative academics who accused him of simplification or bias. However, these criticisms – as a number of critics see – confirm the credibility of his call to liberalize economics from its theoretical closure, and its openness to multiplicity and critical meditation.
The great value of the book “The Guide to Economic Science” is that it does not offer ready recipes or ideal models, but rather opens the way for the economy to be living as a living, changing, and related science. It is not just an academic entrance, but rather an invitation to practice economic understanding as a form of conscious civil participation.
At a time when the discourse that wants to dominate, economics is used to justify decisions that reproduce injustice, Zhang reminds us that economic knowledge is not exclusive to anyone, and that every person has the right to understand, ask and argue.