Political economy in Lomonosov Moscow State University: history and modernity

The article offered to the reader is an overview of the fourth session of the VIII International Political Economic Congress, named after A. V. Buzgalin, «Russian Economic System: Contradictions and Development Potential,» held on May 16-17, 2024, as part of the VI Moscow Academic Economic Forum. The session was dedicated to four significant anniversaries: the 220th anniversary of the Department of Political Economy in Lomonosov Moscow State University, the 120th anniversary of the birth of N.A. Tsagolov, the 100th anniversary of the birth of V.N. Cherkovets and the 70th anniversary of the birth of A.V. Buzgalin. Addressing the history, the speakers noted the significance of outstanding scientists, the leaders of the department who were at the top of developing economic theory in the 19th century. This tradition was continued in the Soviet time. Special place in it belongs to the Tsagolov School, the significance of which in the history of economic science was determined by methodological independence and self-sufficiency, with the development of the system of laws and categories of political economy as the main result of its activity. Special attention at the session was paid to the creative path of V.N. Cherkovets, one of the brightest representatives of the Tsagolov School. Congress participants highly appreciated the work of A.V. Buzgalin, an effective follower of the Tsagolov School, who created an independent direction in economic science. His main work, which condenced the main ideas, was the two-volume book «Global Capital,» co-authored with A.I. Kolganov. The main conclusion that follows from the materials of the session is that political economy and the Tsagolov School are still relevant today, in a more complex theoretical and geopolitical configuration of world development, and political economy was and remains a fundamental science that systematizes the ongoing processes in the context of their renewal.