The 8th Forum of the World Association for Political Economy Held in Brazil

From May 25 to 27, 2013, the “Inequality and World Capitalism: Analysis, Countermeasures, and Action – The 8th Forum of the World Association for Political Economy” was grandly held at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil. Over a hundred scholars from more than 20 countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Mexico, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, attended the forum. On the morning of May 25, Professor Cheng Enfu, President of the World Association for Political Economy and Dean of the Academy of Marxism of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, delivered the opening address, and Roselane Neckel, President of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, delivered a welcome speech. At the opening ceremony, the association awarded the 2013 (3rd) “World Marxian Economics Award.” The world-renowned Marxist economist and founder of dependency theory, Professor Theotonio dos Santos of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and Wei Xinghua, Distinguished Emeritus Professor at Renmin University of China, received this honor. The association also awarded the 5th “21st Century World Political Economy Outstanding Achievement Award,” with nine professors receiving this commendation. Participants took part in a tree-planting commemorative activity for the forum and jointly held an unveiling ceremony for a bronze plaque of Karl Marx embedded in the university’s academic exchange center.

2013年5月25～27日，“不平等与世界资本主义：分析、对策及行动——世界政治经济学学会第8届论坛”在巴西圣卡塔琳娜州联邦大学隆重举行。来自中国、日本、韩国、印度、墨西哥、美国、英国、法国、德国等20多个国家的百余名学者与会。5月25日上午，世界政治经济学会会长、中国社科院马克思主义研究院院长程恩富教授致开幕词，巴西卡塔琳娜州联邦大学校长罗斯兰·尼格尔（RoselaneNeckel）致欢迎词。开幕式上，学会颁发了2013年度（第3届）“世界马克思经济学奖”，世界杰出马克思主义经济学家、依附理论的创立者、巴西里约热内卢联邦大学教授托尼奥·多斯·桑托斯（Theotonio dos Santos）和中国人民大学荣誉一级教授卫兴华获此殊荣。学会还颁发了第5届“21世纪世界政治经济学杰出成果奖”，9位教授获此嘉奖。与会者参加了论坛植树纪念活动，并共同为嵌刻在该校学术交流中心的卡尔·马克思铜牌举行了揭牌仪式。

Participating scholars conducted in-depth discussions on topics such as “Inequality in Global Wealth Production and Distribution and Its Roots.”

与会学者围绕“世界财富生产和分配的不平等及其根源”等议题展开了深入研讨。

In his address, Cheng Enfu pointed out that research on global wealth and income distribution reveals that the distribution of household wealth among global residents is more unequal than income distribution. Compared to wealthy countries, the ratio of wealth inequality to income inequality is larger in poor countries. Global wealth concentration is extremely high and far exceeds income concentration. If comparisons between countries use official exchange rates, the estimated inequality of wealth distribution is even higher. Moreover, wealth distribution not only shows a highly concentrated trend globally but also varies significantly across countries. He argued that since Reagan and Thatcher jointly promoted neoliberalism in various countries, accompanied by the frequent financial and economic crises in the West, global and national inequality and the gap between rich and poor have continuously intensified, thereby exposing that what Obama calls the “American Dream,” as well as the so-called “Japanese Dream,” are in essence the dreams of monopoly oligarchs, not the dreams of the people; they are dreams of crisis and terror, not dreams of stability and security; they are dreams of military blackmail, not dreams of peaceful development. This is fundamentally different from the socialist “Chinese Dream” currently advocated by China.

程恩富在致词中指出，通过对全球财富和收入分配的研究发现，全球居民户财富分配比收入分配差距更大。与富裕国家相比，贫困国家的财富差距对收入差距比更大。全球财富的集中度极高并远高于收入的集中度。如果国家间的比较使用的是官方汇率，则估算出财富分配的不平等程度更高。此外，财富分配不但在全球范围内呈现出高度集中态势，而且在不同国家间差异较大。他认为，自里根和撒切尔夫人联手在各国推行新自由主义以来，伴随西方时常爆发的金融危机和经济危机，全球和各国的不平等和贫富差别现象不断加剧，进而暴露出奥巴马讲的“美国梦”，以及所谓“日本梦”等，其实质是垄断寡头之梦，而非人民之梦；是危机和恐怖之梦，而非平稳和安全之梦；是武力讹诈之梦，而非和平发展之梦。这与当前中国讲的社会主义“中国梦”有着本质区别。

The closing ceremony of the forum was chaired by Professor Niemeyer Almeida Filho of the Federal University of Uberlândia in Brazil, Vice President of the World Association for Political Economy. Professor Nildo Ouriques, Director of the Latin American Economic Research Institute at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, read out the consensus declaration of the 8th Forum. The declaration stated that the capitalist economic and political system is the main root of global and national inequality. Although capitalism still possesses a great capacity to adjust in the face of various adverse circumstances, it lacks the ability to coordinate with human potential, instead treating it merely as the basis for the infinite desire for capital value. This dogmatic approach is imposed solely to maintain the interests of imperialist states under the hegemony of the financial capitalist class. Inequality among regions, countries, and social classes worldwide is inherent to capitalist development and must be overcome through political reconstruction within a social alternative order based on alternative ideas and transformative practical policies. The unity of Marxists worldwide is very necessary. The World Association for Political Economy provides an important space for activities, enabling the exchange of ideas, research, and action proposals. Without global political action, the replacement of capitalism cannot be achieved. The 9th Forum of the World Association for Political Economy will be held from May 23 to 25, 2014, at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, with the theme “Growth, Development, and Social Justice.”

论坛闭幕式由世界政治经济学学会副会长、巴西乌贝兰迪亚联邦大学尼厄梅尔·艾梅达·菲罗教授主持。圣卡塔琳娜州联邦大学拉美经济研究所所长尼尔多·欧瑞克斯教授宣读了第8届论坛共识宣言。宣言指出，资本主义经济政治制度是全球和各国不平等的主要根源。尽管资本主义仍具有面对各种不利环境而进行调整的巨大能力，但不具备同人类潜力相协调的能力，而只是将其视为对资本价值无限渴望的基础。而这种教条的方式只是金融资本家阶级霸权下为维护帝国主义国家利益而强加的。世界范围内各地区、各国家和社会阶级间的不平等是资本主义发展固有的，必须通过建立在替代思想和转型实践政策基础上的社会替代秩序中的政治重构来加以克服。全世界马克思主义者的联合是非常有必要的。世界政治经济学会提供了重要的活动空间，使思想、研究和行动建议的交流成为可能。而如没有全球政治行动，对资本主义的取代是无法实现的。世界政治经济学学会第9届论坛将于2014年5月23日至25日在越南社科院举行，主题为“增长、发展与社会公正”。

Online editor: Lan He Shui

网络编辑：岚河水