'Principles of Economics' by Former Deputy Prime Minister Cho Soon... A Must-Read Economics Book

Jo Sun, Professor Emeritus at Seoul National University

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] The late Cho Soon, former Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, is regarded as the patriarch of modern Korean economics and a leading scholar of his time. His representative work, Principles of Economics (photo), is considered an essential introductory textbook not only for current and former economic officials but also for all students wishing to study economics.

In April 1974, while serving as a professor at Seoul National University's College of Commerce, Cho published the first edition of Principles of Economics. At that time, the field relied heavily on translated works by foreign economists, so this marked the emergence of a domestically authored economics textbook to rival those translations.

Although Cho was the sole author listed on the first edition, he mentioned in the preface that he received help from five gifted disciples, naming his juniors. These included prominent economists who later established themselves, such as Kim Joong-soo, former Governor of the Bank of Korea and former Chief Economic Secretary at the Blue House under the Lee Myung-bak administration, and Lee Jung-woo, Professor Emeritus at Kyungpook National University and former Policy Chief under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.

When the fourth edition of Principles of Economics was published, Cho's disciple, former Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, participated as a co-author. The book has undergone several revisions since then, and the current market edition is the 11th edition, published in March 2020. The co-authors include the late Cho Soon, former Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, Professor Jeon Sung-in of Hongik University, and Professor Kim Young-sik of Seoul National University.

Principles of Economics is known as the first theoretical work to fully address Keynesian economics in Korea. Based on this, research activities flourished, producing numerous disciples who are now classified as the "Cho Soon School," forming a significant pillar of the modern economics community.