Yang was born in China, the son of Chinese Communist Party officials. His parents' status meant that he initially had a privileged life, receiving an excellent education by Chinese standards at the time.
Life under the Maoist government
His life changed dramatically in the early days of the Cultural Revolution. Yang was a Red Guard in Hunan who was part of the Rebel factionShengwulian. On behalf of the group, Yang wrote what probably become the most influential article of the Cultural Revolution. He published a political treatise entitled "Whither China?", which was highly critical of Mao Zedong's communist regime from a farther left perspective. Yang contended that the essential conflict in China was between the new "red capitalist class", consisting of CCP cadres and their families, and the masses of the Chinese people. This was a shocking and daring deviation from the orthodox Maoist view that conflict in China was essentially between Mao and his enemies. Yang's essay was read by hundreds of thousands of Chinese during the Cultural Revolution. It could not be read openly, and was passed secretly between trusted friends, provoking lively debate across China. So great was his influence that some members of the 1980s Democracy Movement in China viewed Yang Xiaokai as "the forerunner of the Thinking Generation".
Imprisonment and release
Mao personally denounced Yang as a counter-revolutionary in 1969. Yang was arrested and sent to prison for 10 years. At one point, Yang learned that he was scheduled to be executed, though, fortunately, this never eventuated. Nevertheless, distraught by her son's treatment, Yang's mother, Chen Su, committed suicide. While in prison, Yang managed to learn English and calculus. He learnt from and deeply admired a fellow prisoner who happened to be a mathematics professor and a devout Christian; but Yang did not convert yet at that time. When he was released, Xiguang changed his name to Xiaokai Yang, so that he could find a job.
Professional career
Yang gained admission to the Institute of Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences with the help of economist Yu Guangyuan, then the deputy director of the Academy. Yu admitted him as a student of mathematical economics. He later joined Hunan University and published two highly influential books on economics. He then studied at Princeton University, where he obtained a Ph.D in economics. Following his study at Princeton, Yang accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University. In 1988, he moved to Australia and took up a position as lecturer at Monash University. He quickly gained widespread international attention, publishing numerous English-language articles and books. He was made senior lecturer in 1989, reader in 1993, and was awarded a personal Chair in Economics in 2000. In 1993, he was elected fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. He was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Economics. He collaborated with some of the world's leading economists, including Yew-Kwang Ng and Jeffrey Sachs, the latter of whom stated that "Yang is one of the world's most penetrating and exacting economic theorists, and one of the most creative minds in the economics profession". In 2002, Nobel Prize Winner Professor James M. Buchanan said that: "In my view, the most important and exciting research in economics in the world is done at Monash, and it is done by Xiaokai Yang." Yang was a neoclassical economist. He is praised by his colleagues for having cleared up many unhelpful digressions in economic writing, and returning the discipline to the fundamental insights of Adam Smith. His work is founded on the ideal that all persons are equal in all relevant respects. He moved from this to develop an extensive explanatory apparatus. His work encompasses equilibria that involve more behavioral adjustments than those defined in orthodox neoclassical models of general equilibrium. According to Buchanan, this approach has major implications for a wide range of issues in economics, such as globalisation, outsourcing, as well as interoccupational and locational mobility.
Illness and religious conversion
Yang was diagnosed with lung cancerin September 2001. Doctors predicted that it would kill him soon, but he lived more years than initially expected. In 2002, Yang converted to Christianity and made it public, becoming a member of the Anglican Church. Six months later, he was baptized and wrote a second testimony about his new belief inThe Bible. He died on 7 July 2004, survived by his wife, Xiaojuan; and three children, Xiaoxi, James, and Edward. His eventful life is described in his memoir, Captive Spirits: Prisoners of the Cultural Revolution.
Legacy
Yang's major contribution at the time of his death was the development of infra-marginal economics, which are those discrete decisions that dictate future path dependencies. He was a prolific author in economics, but Yang simultaneously wrote a large body of influential political essays in Chinese, including a best-selling book. He championed democracy, decentralization of Chinese political power, and privatization of the Chinese economy. When he died, Nanfang Zhoumo, the most influential reformist magazine in China, published a long obituary, praising Yang, and discussing the pervasive impact of his writings.
