But I found that there is only one answer, and the answer is simple. And I recently made a study plan for myself, including economics. I think we can talk about this topic, or let ourselves know more about the original intention of learning this subject by talking about it.

Second, why should we study political economy?

First of all, I need to explain that the study textbook I chose is Political Economy edited by Liu.

Political Economy (5th Edition)/Theoretical Economics Undergraduate Series Textbooks (Douban)

To understand the development of China's political economy, the most fundamental thing is to adhere to the basic principles and methods of Marxist political economy, combined with the latest changes in contemporary capitalist economic and social development, as well as the latest practice of economic reform and system transformation and perfection in socialist countries.

The word "economy" in economics was first seen in Li Wenzi Le Pian in the Sui Dynasty, in which "the way of economy" was mentioned. In ancient Chinese, the word "Jing" means "Jing Guo Ji Tian Xia" and "Jing Guo Ji Min". Of course, even if you can't "help the world through the country" or "help the people through the country", you can be "self-sufficient" in studying the economy. When I say "self-cultivation", I mean "if you are rich, you will help the world, and if you are poor, you will be immune to it."

In the west, the meaning of "economy" is constantly changing. Aristotle thought that economics was the knowledge of housework from the beginning, that is, the knowledge of slave owners' family economic problems, and later it evolved into the knowledge of national and social economic problems. The word "political economy [1]" came into being. Although mercantilist scholars used this term at that time, it does not mean that political economy is an independent discipline. It was not until the middle of17th century that political economy was regarded as an independent economic discipline. At that time, the bourgeois classical political economy, which represented the interests of the industrial bourgeoisie, came into being. Its historical task was to criticize feudalism, prove that the feudal system must be replaced by the capitalist system, and expound the economic relations and laws of movement in the process of capitalist production, exchange, distribution and consumption.

Political economy has gone through several stages. First, the bourgeois classical political economy. Its founder, william petty, put forward the viewpoint that "labor time determines value". The wealth of nations, written by founder Adam Smith, is well known to us. He particularly pointed out the role of the "invisible hand" and explained the regulatory role and significance of the market mechanism under the condition of free competition. Based on the labor theory of value, david ricardo objectively analyzed the internal contradictions of capitalist production mode, market economy operation mechanism and related economic categories. Second, Marxist political economy. In Das Kapital, Marx took the labor theory of value as the cornerstone, the cell of capitalist economy-commodity as the starting point category, and surplus value as the basic category, comprehensively analyzed the capitalist economic process, and theoretically reproduced the history of the emergence and development of capitalist mode of production. In addition, through the relationship between things in capitalist society, Marx profoundly analyzed the relationship between people in the process of capitalist production, exposed and criticized the drawbacks and irrationality of the capitalist system, and expounded the historical inevitability that the capitalist system must be replaced by a more advanced social system. Third, China's socialist political economy.

Counting the emergence and development of political economy, it is not difficult for learners to see the benefits of studying political economy. As I said above, "introspection", combined with the historical task and research object of political economy, why should we study political economy? It is because studying political economy can understand economic relations and laws of movement.

In Marxist political economy, its research does not simply study the superficial phenomena in the production process, but only sees the relationship between people and things, things and things, and does not involve the essence of production relations; But through the relationship between people and things, things and things, we study the relationship between people in the production process, that is, the production relationship. In other words, Marxist politics