The socialist market economy is a commercialized commodity economy, and the market plays a fundamental role in the allocation of resources.
The socialist market economy has the general characteristics of equality, legality, competitiveness and openness.
The socialist market economy is an effective form to achieve optimal allocation.
The transition from a planned economy to a socialist market economy
For a long time, no matter Marxists, Western bourgeois politicians and scholars all regard the market economy as a unique economic form of capitalism, emphasize that the function of the market economy is related to the private property system, and think that the market economy and socialism are fundamentally opposed, thus denying the possibility of the existence and development of the market economy under the socialist system. The goal of China's economic system reform has chosen the socialist market economy, which is a breakthrough to this traditional concept and makes China's economic system move from a planned economy to a socialist market economy.
to develop productive forces, economic system reform is the only way
to develop productive forces, it is necessary to completely abandon the systems that make productive forces fettered and bound, and carry out bold reforms to effectively promote the development of productive forces. Liberating and developing productive forces is the fundamental starting point of Deng Xiaoping's proposal to engage in market economy.
Xiaoping once pointed out: The question is what methods can be used to develop social productive forces more effectively. We used to engage in planned economy, but years of practice have proved that, in a sense, only engaging in planned economy will constrain the development of productive forces.
China copied the Soviet model for a long time. The so-called Soviet model is the economic system of the former Soviet Union under the guidance of relatively complete planned economy theory and planned economy thought during Stalin's period. These have had a wide and profound impact on other socialist countries, including our country. Regard the planned economy as the basic feature of socialism, equate the market economy with capitalism, and limit and deny the role of the market. We can't deny that the traditional planned economic system has played an active role in promoting socialist industrialization and promoting the development of productive forces during the period of socialist construction, when everything is in ruins, the ruling party enjoys high prestige and the people's political enthusiasm is unprecedentedly high, because it is conducive to quickly mobilizing social resources and concentrating them on the key construction of key departments, which has brought about tremendous changes in China's economy. However, with the passage of time and the change of conditions, our initial socialist construction tasks have been completed, China's economic scale has been expanding, and economic ties have been increasing day by day. The decision-making of the planned economic system is highly unified and excludes the role of the market, and the disadvantages of egalitarianism are increasingly exposed, which eventually leads to the stagnation of the national economy. In the planned economic system, on the one hand, it is unified and ruthless, which limits the initiative of localities and enterprises and the vitality of enterprises; On the other hand, employees eat the "big pot" of enterprises, and enterprises eat the "big pot" of the country, so the enthusiasm of managers and producers can not be brought into full play. These two aspects are constraints on productivity. To get rid of the bondage, we must fundamentally change the economic system that binds the development of productive forces through reform and establish an economic system full of vitality to liberate and develop productive forces.
second, socialism can also engage in a market economy
any country can and should choose its own means and ways to develop itself according to its actual development of social productive forces and national economy, and use which means is beneficial to its own development. But for many years, our country has always regarded the planned economy as socialism and the market economy as capitalism. In order to adhere to socialism, we must exclude the market economy. This traditional understanding mainly comes from copying individual words in Marxism regardless of conditions and circumstances. For example, Marx and Engels once imagined that the planned economy would be implemented in the future socialist society, and there would be no commodity-currency relationship. We take it and apply it, which will inevitably produce the above concept. However, as long as we seriously think about it, we can analyze that what Marx and Engels put forward is only an idea, and they did not say that it is inevitable. The future society they talked about is not our socialism at this stage. Because what Marx and Engels inspected was that a developed capitalist society built a future socialist society on that basis, which is quite different from the socialist society we practice today, with different foundations and different realities. How can we copy it? Besides, Marxism is constantly developing, and it needs to constantly enrich and develop itself in new practice, so that it can have vitality and be called science. In the past, we copied it in some places, which led to binding ourselves with traditional understanding, coupled with the proliferation of "Left" ideas and unrealistic, resulting in great economic losses. Mistakes and setbacks have prompted our party to reflect on and re-recognize the traditional planned economic system and begin to explore new ways to develop the socialist economy in theory and practice.
As early as 1979, Deng Xiaoping pointed out: "It is definitely incorrect to say that the market economy only exists in capitalist society, and there is only a capitalist market economy. Why can't socialism engage in a market economy? This can't be called capitalism. We give priority to the planned economy and combine it with the market economy, but this is a socialist market economy. In 1985, Xiaoping pointed out: "There is no fundamental contradiction between socialism and market economy." In the spring of 1992, Deng Xiaoping further pointed out in his talk in the South: "More plans or more markets are not the essential difference between socialism and capitalism. Planned economy is not equal to socialism, and capitalism also has plans; Market economy is not equal to capitalism, and socialism also has a market. Both planning and market are economic means. "
Deng Xiaoping's thoughts on the socialist market economy have fundamentally solved the ideological bondage of opposing socialism and market economy, and have greatly promoted China's economic reform, which has become the basic theoretical basis for our party to formulate the reform direction and objectives.
Specifically speaking, the process of Deng Xiaoping leading the people to the socialist market economy, from breaking through ideological shackles to correctly understanding and then reforming practice, should be divided into three stages:
The first stage: the concept of a unified planned economy that completely excludes market regulation was broken, and the idea of "planned economy as the mainstay, market economy as the supplement" was formed.
the second stage: confirm the assertion that "socialist economy is a planned commodity economy based on public ownership", break through the traditional concept of opposing planned economy and commodity economy for a long time, and reinterpret the connotation of planned economy.
the third stage: fundamentally break the ideological shackles of regarding planned economy and market economy as basic social systems, and confirm the reform goal of establishing a "socialist market economic system".
China's reform practice aimed at establishing a socialist market economic system has proved, and will further prove in the future, that there is no fundamental contradiction between socialism and market economy, and that market economy can be combined with the basic socialist system to effectively promote the development of productive forces. So we say that socialism can also engage in a market economy.
III. Basic characteristics and framework of the socialist market economic system
What is a market economy?
firstly, market economy is a way of resource allocation.
the so-called resource allocation refers to the proportional distribution of economic resources, including material resources and human resources, in the production of various products and services to meet people's different needs. Generally, resource allocation should achieve two goals: First, the proportion of social supply formed through resource allocation should be adapted to the proportion of social demand, and the disconnection between supply and demand should be avoided, that is, the rationality of resource allocation. Second, we should stress economic efficiency, save resources, and make the best use of people, things and places, that is, the adequacy of resource utilization. Achieving the above two goals means that the resource allocation is optimized.
secondly, the market economy is a developed commodity economy.
Market economy is an economic category closely linked with commodity economy. On the premise of the full development of commodity economy, market economy is formed and developed on the basis of the gradual commercialization of products, labor and material production factors. In this sense, it can be said that market economy is a developed commodity economy.
the formation of market economy, the market has become the main means of social resource allocation, and it must meet a series of conditions. The most important conditions:
First, the commercialization of production factors. To make resource allocation market-oriented, it requires not only the commercialization of general consumer goods and means of production, but also the commercialization of various factors of production such as labor, capital, science and technology, information, etc., and on this basis, a unified and complete market system and a sensitive market mechanism are formed;
the second is the marketization of economic relations. All economic activities, including production, exchange, distribution and consumption, should be market-centered, market-oriented and obey the command of the "invisible hand" of the market;
the third is the independence of property rights. Market subject-refers to those parties engaged in market economic activities, mainly enterprises and residents, who must have their own property rights and become legal entities in the true sense, and are qualified to participate in market economic activities;
the fourth is the autonomy of production and operation. Producers and operators pursue the maximization of economic benefits within the scope permitted by national laws and policies, freely choose investment locations and industry sectors, and ensure business scope and business objectives;
the fifth is the standardization of economic behavior. In the pursuit of economic interests, market participants must stress professional ethics, abide by national laws, perform contracts, abide by market rules and market management systems, and consciously safeguard social and economic order.
the long-term and full development of commodity economy has prepared the above conditions for the formation of market economy. Only when the commodity economy comes before and the market economy comes after can a developed commodity economy be called a market economy.
The common features of market economy are:
First, market economy is an independent economy. Commodity producers must be independent market players.
second, the market economy is an equal economy. It only recognizes equivalent exchange and does not recognize any privileges of supermarkets.
thirdly, the market economy is a competitive economy. In order to realize their respective values, there must be fierce competition among market players, and the survival of the fittest will be eliminated. Therefore, in market economy activities, opportunities and risks coexist. This mechanism urges enterprises to constantly improve their own quality and business scale in order to be invincible in the competition.
fourth, the market economy is an open economy. In order to gain profits and realize the value of products, enterprises will spare no effort to open up markets.
through the analysis of the characteristics of the market economy, we can see that the market mechanism includes the requirements of supply and demand, price and competition. With the development of social division of labor, there is a contradiction between the singleness of production and the diversity of demand, which makes the supply and demand sides both oppose and depend on each other. Commodity exchange links the supply and demand sides, thus solving the contradiction between supply and demand. Price is the interest link that connects the supply and demand sides, and it is the realization form of value. Price coordination between supply and demand is an indicator to guide the flow of resources. Through the two-way adjustment of prices, supply and demand can reach a balance at a new level. Competition is a contest between the buyer and the seller about the price and quality of goods. Only competition can make the price rise and fall with the change of supply and demand, and the change of price in turn regulates supply and demand. Competition is the soul of market vitality. Market mechanism is to play the role of saving resources and rationally allocating resources in the interdependence and mutual restriction between supply and demand, price and competition.
Of course, the market is not omnipotent. The cyclical economic crisis caused by the laissez-faire market economy of capitalism is the serious consequence of market failure. Therefore, after the great crisis in the 193s, capitalist countries generally adopted planned adjustment to make up for the defects of the market, which formed a macro-control market economy.
the socialist market economy is a combination of market economy and socialist system, which not only has the general provisions and characteristics of market economy, but also combines with the basic socialist system.
as a way of resource allocation, market economy is not a basic social system category, and it does not have the nature of "capital" and "society", but it has never been separated from the basic social system and existed in isolation. Historically, market economy and capitalism came into being and grew together. At first, it existed in the world in the form of capitalist market economy, but it is not a patent of capitalism, but a civilized achievement of human beings, which can serve both capitalism and socialism, depending on which social system the market economy is combined with. Today, we establish a socialist market economy, which is a combination of market economy and socialist system. It is a market economy under socialist conditions. As a market economy, it is also an economy that uses the market as the main means to allocate resources, and it is an economy that is regulated by the market mechanism, that is, the law of value. In this regard, it is no different from the capitalist economy. When explaining this problem, Xiaoping first said: "The socialist market economy ... is basically similar to the purpose of capitalist society." Therefore, he has repeatedly pointed out that the market economy cannot be equated with capitalism, and socialism can also engage in a market economy.
the socialist market economy is a new historical form of market economy development, which can also be said to be a new stage of market economy development. It contains two aspects, one is the generality of market economy, and the other is the characteristics of socialist system itself. The socialist market economy is an economic system in which the market plays a fundamental role in resource allocation and can achieve efficiency and fairness under the active and effective national macro-control.
The basic characteristics of the socialist market economy are as follows:
First, in the ownership structure, public ownership is the mainstay, and various ownership economies develop together, and all forms of ownership that meet the "three benefits" can and should be used to serve socialism.
Second, in the distribution system, we should adhere to the system that distribution according to work is the main body and various distribution modes coexist. Combine distribution according to work with distribution according to production factors, and adhere to the principle of giving priority to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness.
Third, in macro-control, because public ownership is the main body, the state has a solid material foundation, a solid political foundation and a broad mass base for market regulation, so it can combine people's current interests with long-term interests, local interests and collective interests, give full play to the advantages of planning and market, and combine market regulation with macro-control.
The basic framework of the socialist market economy was elaborated in the Decision of the Central Committee on Several Issues Concerning the Establishment of the Socialist Market Economic System adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 14th CPC Central Committee. To sum up, we should remember that it includes three "systems" and three "systems".
The three "systems" are:
First, establish a modern enterprise system. The modern enterprise system with public ownership as the main body, clear property rights, clear responsibilities and rights, separation of government from enterprises and scientific management is the central link of socialism.
the second is to establish income distribution with distribution according to work as the main body, giving priority to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness.