Tokuzo Fukuda

Japanese: 福田徳三 - ふくだ・とくぞう

Year of death: May 8, 1930
Year of birth: December 2, 1874
A representative economist from the late Meiji to early Showa periods. Born in Tokyo, after graduating from the Graduate School of Tokyo Higher Commercial School (Hitotsubashi University), he studied in Germany from 1897 to 1898. He was such a precocious talent that he wrote two books during his time abroad, "A Treatise on the History of Japanese Economy" (in German) and "A Treatise on Labor Economics." After returning to Japan, he became a professor at his alma mater, but due to circumstances he temporarily transferred to Keio University, before eventually returning to his alma mater. In his early lectures, he cited the Englishman Marshall as his ancestor, and he strongly encouraged his students to study modern theorists, but he was critical of theories that emphasized price theory from an early stage. He said that price equilibrium is not a correct guide to exchange or distribution, and that, for example, the labor market is not a battle over wages but a battle over livelihoods. This later became a theory of social policy based on the "right to life," and further became a theory of "welfare economics (welfare state)" based on the principle of "distribution according to need." As a prominent member of the Japan Society for Social Policy Studies, he opposed the radical stance of Marxism, but rather than discussing ideology, he criticized the uncritical adherence to the labor theory of value and the materialist view of history, and engaged in a fierce debate with Kawakami Hajime in Kyoto. He received his doctorate in law in 1900, and became a member of the Imperial Academy in 1922. He also worked hard to survey victims of the Great Kanto Earthquake, and was an enthusiastic supporter of popular elections. It is commonly believed that Fukuda made great efforts to introduce modern theoretical economics, but I would rather highly praise him for being an excellent scholar with a wealth of originality. <Works> "Complete Works of Fukuda Tokuzou Economics," 6 volumes, "Research on Welfare Economics" <References> "In Memory of Professor Fukuda Tokuzou," edited by the Fukuda Tokuzou Memorial Association, "Fukuda Tokuzou: Welfare Economics"

(Yuzo Yamada)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：昭和5.5.8(1930)
生年：明治7.12.2(1874)
明治後期から昭和初期にかけての代表的経済学者。東京生まれ,東京高等商業学校(一橋大)研究科を卒業後,明治30(1897)年から33年にかけてドイツに留学。留学中に『日本経済史論』(独文)と『労働経済論』の2書を著すほど早熟の逸材である。帰国後母校の教授になったが,事情あって慶応義塾大に一時転出,やがて母校に復帰した。初期の講義で英のマーシャルを祖述したり,門弟らにしきりに近代理論派の研究を勧めたりしたが,しかし価格論重視の理論には早くから批判的であった。価格の均衡は交換や配分の正しい手引きとならず,たとえば労働市場は賃金の争いでなく生活の争いであるという。それはのちに「生存権」を基礎とする社会政策論になり,さらに「必要に応ずる分配」を原則とする「厚生経済(福祉国家)論」となった。日本社会政策学会の有力メンバーとして,マルクス主義の急進的立場に反対したが,イデオロギーを論ずるよりも,むしろ労働価値説や唯物史観を無批判に信奉する点を非難し,京都の河上肇と激しく論争した。明治33年法学博士,大正11(1922)年帝国学士院会員となった。他面,関東大震災のときは被災者調査に奔走,また普通選挙の際は応援に熱中した。福田は通説では近代理論派の経済学の導入に力を尽くした点が強調されるが,むしろ独創力に富む優れた学者だったという点を高く評価したい。<著作>『福田徳三経済学全集』全6巻,『厚生経済研究』<参考文献>福田徳三先生記念会編『福田徳三先生の追悼』,『福田徳三・厚生経済』

(山田雄三)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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