Around the world, economics is suffering from a crisis of meaning: it is considered to be unable to provide people with predictions of economic events or trends in economic evolution, nor can it offer its disciplinary solutions for the future. When the financial crisis erupted in 2008, economists were scrambling. The complexity and immeasurability of human behavior frustrates economists collectively. This is not the first time that economics has failed in front of the "real world," but it is also since then that the call to question economics has become more and more intensive.

There are all kinds of languages around the world, in the Chinese network world, has repeatedly boarded the hot search "suggest experts do not suggest" (many experts are real estate, financial and other industries of economic researchers) is an example. The 2019 Nobel Laureate in Economics, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, also wrote the book Good Economics, which distinguishes "good" and "bad" economic views, in an attempt to restore the reputation of economics through this simple discerning work. Looking back at modern economics papers, excessive mathematics and specialization have made "there is not a mathematical formula in the whole book" a propaganda method for other books.

Born in 1842, Marshall ended the "transcendental" era of economics and opened the door of modern economics: specialization and mathematics; Formats, charts, formulas; Separate from ethical research. Was he the troublemaker of modern economics or the builder of its norms? Marshall died on July 13, 1924. In 1995, the economist David Colander put it bluntly: "Marshall is outdated, at best a stepping stone to teaching for undergraduates, and, moreover, very irrelevant to modern economics."

He has certainly entered the ranks of classic economists, but Marshall is less talked about. Marshall will be explained only when it is impossible to avoid him in a textbook or in economic history. His name is less familiar to readers than that of other classical economists. People forget how carefully and presciently he spoke about economic research.

Alfred Marshall died on 13 July 1924 at his Cambridge residence with his wife Mary by his side. At the time, he was both the creator of the first economics degree in history and the undisputed leader of Cambridge Economics. "The master whom we all respect is dead, full of honour, his life's work accomplished," said Pigou, Marshall's beloved disciple and his successor as chair at Cambridge, in a memorial speech.

However, he also pointed out in his speech that it is too early to try to accurately assess Marshall's contribution to the development of economics.

A hundred years later, the time seems ripe. When people re-read Marshall, they may be surprised to find that, despite the great changes in economic reality and economic theory, the warm, human and practical undertone that Marshall gave to economics a hundred years ago is still very much alive, and that he fully predicted the dubious path of abstraction and formalization in economics.

He also spares no effort to shout - as he stressed at the beginning of the Principles of Economics - that economics is the study of everyday human life.

Given the subsequent widespread acceptance of Robbins' definition in mainstream economics as the science of the allocation of scarce means, it is all the more interesting to present the intellectual picture of Marshall, the founder of the economics degree.

In his memorial speech, Pigou called on the audience to follow Marshall's example and "follow the star that guides you." To improve the happiness of ordinary people, especially the poor, through economic research was the star that guided Marshall himself. From the beginning of his life, he was entangled with the thorny problem of "poverty in prosperity" in industrial society.

Marshall was born on July 26, 1842, in Bermondsey, a suburban London neighborhood. In the 19th century, the leather industry here was flourishing, but the environment was so bad that Dickens described it as "reeking of evil." In 1845, the Marshalls moved to Ball Green, and although it was a great improvement over Bermondsey's living conditions, there was still a gas works in the area.

The scenes of his early life gave Marshall the undertone of the values he held throughout his life: boundless sympathy for those at the bottom of the ladder and a relentless dedication to the cause of improving the living conditions of the working class. No matter how high he became, he always took every opportunity to go into the industrial areas and slums to collect first-hand information.

At the age of nine, he attended MacinTaylor School, by which time the family had settled in Clapham, where living conditions had greatly improved. Macintaylor School is one of seven high quality public schools alongside Eton and Harrow, and it is unique in providing excellent students with direct access to the University of Oxford to study classics.

Marshall certainly had the opportunity to do so, but he had a strong aversion to classical education, but he was particularly fond of mathematics, and he decided to go to Cambridge University, which had the best mathematics program in England.

In 1861, Marshall entered Cambridge to study mathematics, and four years later he took a first class honours degree with a second place, which secured him a fellowship at St John's College, Cambridge. While studying mathematics, he also began to study moral philosophy. In 1868, he was appointed lecturer in moral science at St. John's College, where he began to lecture on Bentham's moral philosophy and Mill's political economy.

It was during this period that he became suspicious of the justification of inequality of opportunity and wondered how to give poor people a decent life, and his interest gradually shifted from mathematics and philosophy to political economy.

Perhaps we can get a glimpse of his original intention and motivation to turn to economic research from the story of "patron saint". The "patron saint" was a small painting of a poor man he bought for a few shillings, and Marshall hung it on the mantel in his room, saying, "From then on, I decided to devote my life to making these people happy too." When he was immersed in mathematical calculations, he would always look up at his "patron saint" and force himself back to a real problem.

In her early years at Cambridge, Marshall was one of the first Cambridge teachers willing to teach to women. That's how he met the love of his life, his student Mary Paley, and they were married for 47 years. However, according to the rule that researchers must be celibate, the beginning of married life means the end of the Cambridge career. He had to leave his beloved Cambridge University and find another career.

In 1877, on his 35th birthday, Marshall was appointed Chancellor and Professor of political economy at Bristol University College. The position seemed glamorous, but because Marshall did not like social and administrative matters, it put a great deal of stress on Marshall. This, combined with a debilitating kidney stone disease and a desire to devote himself to the Principles of Economics, led him to seek a way out of Bristol.

In 1883, Marshall first went to Balliol College, Oxford, as a teacher of political economy, just when he thought he would settle down in Oxford, a better opportunity presented itself. After the death of Henry Fawcett, professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge, Marshall finally had hope of returning to Cambridge. In December 1884, Marshall was elected Professor of political economy at Cambridge University, a post he held until his retirement in 1908. During his second stint at Cambridge University, Marshall rose to prominence and gradually became the leader of British economics. The last and most glorious chapter of his career consisted of the following three parts:

One is to write books. After 10 years of preparation, in 1890, Marshall finally completed the classic "Principles of Economics", in the next 30 years, he constantly revised and republished a total of eight times. This book is the home of an enduring economics textbook and much economic expertise, and contains many insights that are still inspiring today. In 1919, Marshall published an important masterpiece of his later years, "Industry and Trade," which made an international comparison and historical investigation of the industrial organization and economic development of major industrial countries. Pigou called the book "the rich mine of knowledge and the engine of power."