시인과 경제학

유장희

　

경제학은 시인의 몫이다
인간은 물질로만으로
행복하지 못한다
아리스토텔레스가 말한대로
인간은 사회적 동물이라
혼자는 살 수 없다

　

　
가족이 있고 친구가 있고 이웃이 있다
가족과 친구와 이웃이 불행하면
나만의 행복이 의미가 없다
내 주변이 행복해야
나도 행복하다

　

　
시인은 예술가다
주변의 일들을 소상히 살피면서
예쁘고 아름답고 신선하고 감동적인
느낌을 채취하여
글로 그림을 그린다
영감(靈感)이 문화(文化)로 전달된다

　

　
경제학의 목표가 행복이라면
영감의 문화로 이웃을 감동시키면
나를 넘어 주변을 아름답게 채색하면
그는 바로 시인이다

　

　
냉철한 머리와 뜨거운 가슴
알프레드 마샬이 백번 옳다
경제학자들이여
먼저 시인이 되라

　

Jang-Hee Yoo

Dr. Jang-Hee Yoo is a professor emeritus of economics and a former vice president of Ewha Womans University.
He is a founding member of Korea Institute for International Economic
Policy (KIEP) and served as its president from 1992 to 1997.
Dr. Yoo is currently a member of National Academy of Sciences, Korea.
He also worked for the Korean government at various positions such as Chief Advisor of Presidential Council of Economic Advisors, Chairman of Advisory Council of Foreign Affairs Policy, and Chairman of National Commission for Corporation Partnership. He also worked for various international organizations such as Eminent Persons Group of APEC and Korea-ASEAN
Eminent Persons Group. In the private sector, he served for POSCO as its Chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive Advisor of Maeil Media Group. He is highly recognized as a leader of Korea’s civilian organizations. For example, he was the governor of Rotary International, District 3650.
He graduated from Seoul National University (BA), University of California, Los Angeles (MA), and Texas A&M University (Ph.D. in economics). Currently, he also works as a co-chair of KCSL (Korean Council of Senior Leaders) and as the president of its think tank, Won-Ji-won.

[Editor’s Note: In 2022, a rare event occurred in the world of economists, many (if not all) of whom our opinion columnist Yeomin Yoon regards as a “confused, sophomoric species.” The Korean Association of Poets officially recognized the prominent Korean economist Yoo as a poet at a major gathering of Korean poets. The Association awarded Dr. Yoo a plaque (등단패), formally recognizing him as a “real poet.”

The Association recognized four people, including Dr. Yoo, as “new poets.” The combined ages of the other three new poets—23, 25, and 31—did not even equal Dr. Yoo’s age. This economist-poet, a rare combination, confessed: “I felt like an old man enrolling in elementary school as a student.”]

　

Poet and Economics

Written by Jang-Hee Yoo
Translated by Byoung K. Park

　

　

Economics is the poet’s share.
Only through materials
humans can’t be fulfilled.
As Aristotle stated,
humans are social beings
who can’t live alone.

　

　　
Family, friends, and neighbors live together.
If my family, friends and neighbors are unhappy,
my happiness is meaningless.
When they are happy,
I become happy.

　

　
Poet is an artist.
Noticing things around you with keen eyes,
digesting the beautiful, fresh
and touching feelings,
compose a picture by letters.
Inspiration is transformed into culture.

　

　

If the objective of economics is happiness,
inspirational culture touches neighbors and
beautifully paints vicinity beyond your surroundings,
that is the poet.

　

　
“Cool-heads but warm hearts,”
Alfred Marshall is absolutely right.
Dear economists,
foremost, be a poet.

　

　

Byoung K. Park teaches poetry, world literature, and Asian literature at Lorain College in Ohio. He earned a Ph.D. in English from Western Michigan University.

He translated Carolyn M. Kleefeld’s Soul Seeds into Korean, which was published as an English-Korean bilingual edition by Cross-Cultural Communications (2014).

His essay, “What? Translating the Meditative Poems of Ko Un: Pointed and Witty Short-line Lyrical Poetry,” was published in Translation Review (2015). As a visiting scholar, he taught at Ajou University in Korea (2016).

His current projects include translating Bruce Weigl’s Song of Napalm into Korean (forthcoming in 2024) and editing a book dedicated to celebrating the centennial of Ko Won’s birth (2025).