东京热在线

The 148th Session of the "BNUBS Famous Expert Lecture Series" was Successfully Held

At 15:00 on May 7, 2025, the 148th session of the "BNUBS Famous Expert Lecture Series" and the 1st session of the "Economic History Lecture Series" hosted by BNUBS, was grandly held at Room 9406, JingShi Building. This lecture specially invited Professor Ma Debin, an outstanding visiting professor at Tsinghua University, as the keynote speaker. It was hosted by Teacher Chen Yueyuan from the School and attracted the participation of many teachers and students.

The theme of this lecture was "State Capacity and the Great Divergence in Economic History". Focusing on national fiscal capacity, Professor Ma Debin compared the paths of the rise of modern fiscal states in Western Europe since the early modern era, the evolution of China's fiscal system since the Song and Yuan dynasties, and the historical process of the transformation of China's fiscal system in modern times. Professor Ma Debin pointed out that after the Glorious Revolution in the UK, a series of institutional changes, such as Parliament taking control of the tax - power, promoted the growth of per - capita tax revenue. On this basis, the UK expanded government debt through the financial market, which contributed to the enhancement of state capacity. These institutional changes were closely related to the fiscal demands triggered by frequent wars in Western Europe. The UK's institutional innovation largely drew on the successful financial technological innovations of the Netherlands, and could even be traced back to the autonomous cities in medieval Italy, having an impact on the institutional development of the new continent of the United States. Since the Song Dynasty in China, the evolution of the national fiscal system has taken a different path from that of Europe. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, silver replaced paper money, and the relatively stable external environment reduced the tax demands of the central government. In modern times, the introduction of Western systems promoted the transformation of China's institutions. The development of the banking industry in Shanghai and the establishment of the public debt market reflected the achievements and limitations of modern institutional changes.

At the end of the lecture, teachers and students on - site actively interacted with Professor Ma Debin. Professor Ma Debin patiently answered each question, providing new perspectives for thinking and research ideas for teachers and students, creating a strong academic atmosphere on - site.

In this lecture, with his profound academic knowledge and rich research experience, Professor Ma Debin brought a feast of knowledge to teachers and students. By analyzing the evolution of the monetary and fiscal systems in China and the West over the past thousand years, he revealed the internal logic of the interaction between state capacity and the market mechanism and the rise and fall of national fortunes, broadening the academic horizons of teachers and students. This is of great significance for promoting the research and study of related fields of economic history in the School.

Contributed by Discipline and Scientific Research Office

Edited by Sun Yue

Reviewed by Wei Hao