Richard N. Cooper:For an Interdependent World

By LIU CHEN

AT their virtual meeting on Feb- ruary 19， leaders of the Group of Seven （G7） pledged in a joint statement to make 2021 a turning point for multilateralism. Amid global volatility， multilateral cooperation is facing a range of new challenges that need the guidance of innovation and inspiration of a practical trailblazing approach. Nonetheless， despite such uncertainty across the world， the pledge from the G7 sent a positive sign. The stance of supporting and encouraging international cooperation taken by the G7 since its founding in 1975 is reminiscent of the study of the world renowned economist Richard N. Cooper， widely recognized as the founder of study on international cooperation in economics. Cooper helped lay the theoretical ground for the founding of G7. The Maurits C. Boas Professor of International Economics at Harvard University died of cancer on December 23， 2020， at the age of 86.

A Trailblazer in Economics

In his book The Economics of Interdependence： Economic Policy in the Atlantic Community published in 1968， Cooper proposed the cooperative equilibrium theory， a great departure from established ideas represented by John Nashs non-cooperative equilibrium theory. Cooper contended that countries could achieve better outcomes if they committed to joint settings of macroeconomic policies by working in a collaborative and coordinated way， particularly in the field of international trade， which would promote prosperity. After fierce academic debates and policy contention， Coopers theory on international cooperation has been widely accepted. It thus laid the theoretical ground for the founding and development of the G7， G8， and G20.

Cooper once worked as an important policy advisor to four U.S. presidents. His theory about international cooperation exerted a positive influence on the development of U.S.-China relations. While serving as UnderSecretary of State for Economic Affairs under President Jimmy Carter， Cooper contributed to and witnessed the for- mal establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic ties in 1979.

In his studies on international cooperation， Copper approached economics from the perspective of history and sociology. It is an example of true interdisciplinary integration rather than a patchwork or integration for integrations sake. In his eyes， the real world is complicated， with each link interconnected. He attached value to， and took an objective view on theories and practices of emerging economies like China. A review of his studies on China leads to the discovery of three features — historical perspective， emphasis on investigation， and being future-oriented.

Jeffrey Frankel， a professor of capital formation and growth at the Harvard Kennedy School， once commented that Coopers theory about international cooperation is an original groundbreaking theory. With the rise of Chinas economy， the feasibility of win-win cooperation has become an increasingly popular topic. As isolationism and racism have reared their ugly heads in recent years， the international community is now rife with misunderstanding and prejudice. Under these circumstances， its necessary for people to review Coopers forward-looking studies. Coopers future-oriented perspective is international instead of parochial. In his thesis Economic Interdependence and War， Cooper summarized three globalization trends in history： the first globalization trend in the 16th century， the second from 1870 to 1913 prior to World War I， and the third starting in the 1970s， often referred to as “the great period of globalization.”

Regarding what makes the third globalization a “great period，” former president of the London School of Economics and Political Science， Anthony Giddens， in the third edition of his book Sociology， echoing Coopers viewpoint， stated， “Globalization opens our eyes to the increasing ties between the local and global， and means [in the context of globalization]， our actions and behavior will have consequences for others， and the worlds problems will have consequences for us.”

In short， like other economists， Cooper was preoccupied with hot-button issues in his studies. He was， however， particularly interested in establishing a collaborative and coordinated system or mechanism — which could hold the world together. His main ideas are uplifting， inspiring， and empowering. His article “A Glimpse of 2020” confidently spoke of the four factors significant to the future. Increasing international mobility is stressed as always. Auguste Comte， a founder of sociology， gave the sacred formula of positivism as， “Love as a principle and order as the basis； progress as the goal.” In this sense， the most valuable asset of Coopers economic studies is humanity.