The Chinese Economist Who Reads Hayek

Mao Yushi

From a fascinating interview by Far Eastern Economic Review Senior Editor William McGurn  of Mao Yushi (90), a Chinese economist and founder of the free market-leaning Unirule Institute of Economics.

Mr. McGurn: How did you first learn of Hayek?


Mr. Mao: In 1989 the Party published a translation of "The Fatal Conceit" for internal use. I read that....

We read him now because we find him very appropriate not just for China's economy or political system but for China as a whole. Chinese society is hungry for his kind of ideas. They are very instructive for China's present development and situation.

Yushi wrote an online column criticizing the communist and totalitarian policies of Mao Zedong in China. He was attacked by Maoists in the country, who called for his arrest.

 In October 2014 Beijing began a "crackdown on dissent" by banning the publication of his works.In January 2017 they also shut down his Web site. In December 2018, he announced he will withdraw from the Communist Party of China.

-RW