After years of toiling in the Gobi desert, Weijian Shan became one of America’s first PhD students from communist China
THE STUDENTS embarking on an economics doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, this autumn face a daunting obstacle: Econ 201A, a course in microeconomic theory inflicted on all new recruits. Over 16 weeks they must acquaint themselves with some of the most formalised parts of economics, including Houthakker’s Axiom, the Slutsky matrix and Afriat’s theorem. According to one instructor, between five and seven class members usually receive a grade of B- or worse.
His march to Berkeley was long. He arrived in the Gobi knowing only a few sayings and slogans in English . But in 1975 he was chosen by his peers and bosses to study the language in Beijing. He won nomination only after first ingratiating himself with his company by memorising the official rules and referee signals of volleyball, which made him a respected referee of platoon matches.
The construction corps taught him other economic concepts, such as “value-added” and its opposite: their company turned 750,000kg of seeds into just 70,000kg of grain. He experienced the power of the division of labour. Even with utmost industry his team could make only 200 bricks per person in a day if they each mixed, moulded and moved the materials. But by dividing those tasks between them they could make two-thirds more. He also learnt the value of capital.
Mr Shan enjoyed Econ 201A, eventually. But he had to abandon his first attempt, returning only after taking the mathematics class that Ms Yellen and Mr Akerlof had recommended. The maths textbook was over 400 pages long. He read it seven times. “I would have enjoyed studying in a more leisurely manner,” he writes, but “I had so much ground to make up.”
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