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Professor Partha Dasgupta was born in Dhaka（capital of Bangladesh now and at that time in India）and attended Cambridge after completing his undergraduate education at the University of Delhi in India.Professor Dasgupta received his PhD in Economics in 1968，and currently he is the Frank Ramsey Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of St.John’s College，Cambridge.
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Professor Dasgupta is an internationally renowned economist，and he has received many honors for his contributions to welfare economics；development economics；technological change；population，environmental and resource economics and game theory.Professor Dasgupta is a Fellow of the British Academy，Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences，Member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences，Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences，Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences，Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences，and he is a Past President of the Royal Economic Society and the European Economic Association.Professor Dasgupta was named Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002，won the 2002Volvo Environment Prize and the 2004Kenneth E.Boulding Memorial Award of the International Society for Ecological Economics，and received the John Kenneth Galbraith Award of the American Agricultural Economics Association in 2007.In a rare honor，in 2004he was elected to the Royal Society，the oldest and most influential academy in the world.Fellows of the Royal Society include giants in the scientific history such as Isaac Newton，Charles Darwin，and Albert Einstein.Every year the Fellows elect 44new Fellows，and there are now 1，300in total.In the past the Fellows were from scientific and mathematical fields，and Professor Dasgupta is the first economist in the 350years of the Royal Society’s history to be elected a Fellow.He is very likely to win the Nobel Prize in Economics for his remarkable contributions to environmental and resource economics.
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Professor Dasgupta was born into an Indian family of economists in 1942.His father Amiya Dasgupta，who received his PhD at the London School of Economics in England，taught economics in India from 1926，and was respected as the father of modern economics and the ‘economists’economist’in India.He had numerous students，including Amartya Sen，the winner of the 1998Nobel Prize.Professor Dasgupta’s father-in-law was the 1977Nobel Prize laureate James Meade.However，Professor Dasgupta studied theoretical physics at the University of Delhi，and mathematics when he first arrived at Cambridge.He did not switch to economics until 1965.At that time，the 1996Nobel Prize winner Professor James Mirrlees received his PhD in Economics at the University of Cambridge and held the position of Lecturer at the department of economics.Professor Dasgupta asked Professor Mirrlees to be his supervisor，partly due to their common background in mathematics.Within three years，Professor Dasgupta completed three papers and received his PhD in 1968.
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Like many other internationally renowned Indian economists，Professor Dasgupta’s reputation as a theoretical economist rests on his strong mathematical training.However，his economic research is not purely theoretical，but explores the development of human society and human nature.Teaching at Stanford University from 1989to 1992he was jointly appointed as professor of economics and philosophy，and he also served as the Director of the Program in Ethics.In 1995，the Oxford University Press launched a series of books，each giving a very short introduction to a particular field，and authors are well-known masters in academia.When Professor Dasgupta accepted the Press’s invitation in 1999，he faced the same difficulty as I did in writing a Popular Economics.It took him a full seven years to finish writing the book.Through comparing the lives of two children，one living in Africa and the other in the United States，the book illuminates the economic influences of trust，households，communities，production organization，markets and government，and presents the achievements of economists from Adam Smith to the present day in the context of a key issue： what are the factors which determine whether a nation is rich or poor.From this examination，we learn that capital and natural resources，which are of public concern，are merely proximate causes in determining a nation’s wealth.The fundamental factor is whether institutional arrangements are able to maximally motivate individuals to actively engage in working，learning，accumulation and innovation.
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This book followed his masterpiece An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution，published in 1993，and added new theoretical developments in economics and his own newly updated understanding of Smith’s Question.However，An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution runs to 661pages，with a reference section of 80pages.Professor Dasgupta dedicated An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution to his father，and wrote in the preface that the book was his response to the question his father initiated many years ago.The book attempts to convey to his father ‘This is what I think I know to be important，this is what I now believe，these are my values，this is how I think.’His father read several early chapters，and gave him some positive feedback.However，much to his regret An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution was not finished when his father died in 1992.
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I learnt that Professor Dasgupta was working on this book when he gave the Yan Fu Memorial Lecture at CCER in September 2005.I received an English draft in 2006and immediately recognized its merit.He introduces the achievements economists have made in regard to Smith’s Question in a concise and accessible way，using language with both a litterateur’s elegance and a mathematician’s accuracy.This is exactly what I wanted to write，but was unable to.I immediately suggested translating the book into Chinese，and promised to write a foreword for the Chinese edition.As the Chinese edition goes to press，I hope it will help readers understand how economists observe the world and analyze problems from a rational perspective，and realize that a primary factor in determining the wealth of a nation are its institutions，while the amount of capital and natural resources，rich or poor，are merely the reflection of a nation’s wealth.
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January 16，2008
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At Langrun Garden
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大众经济学 [:1704534305]
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大众经济学 引言
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大众经济学 [:1704534306]
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贝基的世界
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10岁的贝基与她的父母和哥哥萨姆住在位于美国中西部的一个郊区小镇上。贝基的父亲在一家以财产法为主营业务的事务所工作。根据事务所的利润情况，他的年收入会略有浮动，但很少会低于145，000美元（$145，000）。贝基的父母在上大学的时候相互认识了。她的母亲在出版行业工作了几年，但当萨姆出生以后，她决定将精力集中于照顾家庭之上。目前，贝基和萨姆都已上学，因此她在当地的教育机构做起了义工。这一家人住在一幢两层的房子里。这幢房子共有四间卧室，楼上有两个洗澡间，楼下有一个卫生间、一间会客室兼饭厅、一间很现代化的厨房，地下室则被用作家庭活动室。屋后有一大片空地——后院，一家人在那里开展娱乐活动。
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尽管他们的房产还处于部分被抵押的状态，但贝基的父母手里还持有股票、债券，并在一家国有银行的本地支行有一个储蓄账户。贝基的父亲和他就职的事务所都在往他的养老金账户里存钱。并且，他每月会向他参与的一个银行计划付款，而这个计划将来会支付贝基和萨姆的大学学费。这个家庭还参加了财产和人身保险。贝基的父母经常提到，因为联邦税率很高，他们必须节省开支。他们也正是这样做的。但是，他们拥有两辆小轿车，孩子们每年暑假都去野营，每当野营结束，一家人还会一起去度假。贝基的父母还说，贝基这一代人会比他们更有前途。贝基希望能够爱护自然环境，因此坚持骑自行车去上学。她的理想是当一名医生。
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图1贝基的家
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大众经济学 [:1704534307]
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大众经济学 德丝塔的世界
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10岁的德丝塔与她的父母和5个兄弟姐妹在亚热带气候下的埃塞俄比亚西南部的一个村庄中生活。一家人住在两间茅草屋顶的泥屋里。德丝塔的父亲在政府分给他的半公顷土地上种了玉米和埃塞俄比亚画眉草（埃塞俄比亚特有的一种粮食作物）。德丝塔的哥哥帮他父亲种地，还协助他照管家里的牲畜，包括一头母牛、一只山羊和几只鸡。数量较少的画眉草被卖掉，用以换取现金收入，而数量较多的玉米则被作为一家人的主要食粮。德丝塔的母亲在他们屋旁的一小片土地上种了卷心菜、洋葱和假香蕉（一种全年都能种植的块根作物，也是一种粮食作物）。为了补贴家庭收入，她还用玉米来酿造一种当地人喝的饮料。除此以外，她还要做饭、打扫、照看婴儿，因此每天通常要工作14个小时。即使工作这么长的时间，她一个人也没法完成这么多任务。（因为原料都是生的，光做饭一项就要花去5个小时。）因此德丝塔和她的姐姐要帮她们的母亲完成这些家务琐事，还要照看弟弟妹妹们。虽然一个弟弟上了当地的学校，但德丝塔和她姐姐从来没上过学。她的父母不识字也不会写字，但却会简单的算术。
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图2贝基骑自行车去上学
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德丝塔的家里既没有通电，也没有通自来水。他们居住地周围的水源、牧场和林场都是公有财产，归德丝塔村子里的人们共同享用，但村民们不允许村外的人利用它们。每天，德丝塔的妈妈会和女儿们去挑水，捡拾柴火，从本地公产上采摘浆果和草药。德丝塔的妈妈经常抱怨说，采集每天的必需品所花的时间和精力是一年比一年多了。
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