Western economists who hold the definition of market economy 2 believe that the characteristics of market economy cannot be generalized, but should first distinguish between capitalist market economy and socialist market economy, and then discuss the characteristics of capitalist market economy and socialist market economy respectively. For example, American economist bornstein divided the market economy into two categories in his book Comparative Economic System: capitalist market economy and socialist market economy. In his view, the characteristics of capitalist market economy are: (1) private ownership of means of production and possession of means of production by private enterprises; (2) Economic profit is dominant as the guiding force of production decision-making; (3) Rely on market and price to allocate resources and products. He believes that the characteristics of the socialist market economy are: (1) collective ownership and state ownership; (2) Economic profit is dominant as the guiding force of production decision-making; (3) Rely on market and price to allocate resources and products. He believes that the characteristics of the socialist market economy are: (1) collective ownership and state ownership; (2) Limited inequality in income distribution; (3) Use market and price to allocate resources and products.
In the new century, with the initial establishment and gradual improvement of the socialist market economic system, China's economy is developing rapidly, full of vitality and opening up day by day. At the same time, it also requires us to further understand and master the characteristics and inherent laws of the socialist market economy, so that when we formulate and implement policies, it is not only in line with the objective economic laws, but also conducive to the healthy development of the national economy.
According to China's current reality, we need to grasp the characteristics and inherent laws of the socialist market economy, mainly in the following aspects.
First, the market plays a fundamental role in resource allocation, and the law of value regulates socialist production and circulation.
The biggest difference between socialist market economy and traditional planned economy lies in the fundamental difference in the role of market in resource allocation. The former plays a fundamental role, that is, the main regulator; The latter does not work or only plays a small role. According to Marxist economics, in the socialist market economy, the law of value is the main regulator of social production and circulation; In the traditional planned economy, the law of value is not regulated, and it is the mandatory plan of the state that regulates social production and circulation.
The reason why China carried out the reform and opening up and promoted the economic system reform, and changed from a planned economy system to a market economy system, was that after the planned economy played an active role in the 1950s, its disadvantages became increasingly prominent, its efficiency was low, it lacked vitality, and its goods were not right, which led to the widening economic and technological gap between China and developed countries and the slow improvement of people's living standards. In contrast, since 1979 reform and opening up, China's economic development has been accelerating under the strong impetus of market-oriented reform, with an average annual growth rate of 9.4% in the past 25 years, ranking among the top in the world, and its economic strength and comprehensive national strength have been greatly enhanced. Last year, the per capita GDP exceeded 1000 US dollars, and the people's lives improved significantly, reaching a well-off level on the whole. This shows that replacing planned economy with market economy can further liberate social productive forces, use and allocate resources more effectively and achieve more fruitful development results.
In the social market economy, the most important objective law governing economic operation is the law of value, that is, the prices of goods and services fluctuate with the change of supply and demand, rising when supply exceeds demand, and falling when supply exceeds demand. Every enterprise decides and adjusts its production and operation according to the change of market price, so as to maintain the balance between social production and social demand. This is the main significance of the law of value regulating social production and circulation. Engels said in Anti-Turin that "the law of value is the basic law of commodity production." As early as the early 1960 s, Sun, a famous economist in China, said: "The law is Qian Qian, and the law of value comes first." This famous saying is most suitable for the present socialist market economy. Therefore, we say that we should respect objective laws in economic work, first of all, we should respect the law of value, as well as the relevant laws of supply and demand, competition and so on. All market economic activities, except natural monopoly, have externalities and provide public goods. We should let the law of value regulate, that is, market regulation.
It is worth noting that there are still some shortcomings in giving play to the basic role of the market in resource allocation. The most important thing is that the government has too many resources, too much government intervention and approval of economic activities. Some can optimize the allocation of resources through market mechanism, but the government adopts planned economy, which brings waste and loss. Sometimes the government monopolizes and blocks the market, which affects the development of fair competition and causes market signal distortion. Therefore, to improve the socialist market economic system, the most important thing is to give full play to the basic role of the market in resource allocation, so that enterprises can become real market players; It is necessary for the government to further change its functions, stop playing a leading role in resource allocation and market control, and not directly interfere with the production and business activities of enterprises. Instead, we should respect the role of the law of value, give play to the positive role of the market mechanism in regulating the allocation of resources, and let enterprises make independent production and operation decisions mainly according to market signals.
Second, enterprises are the main body of market economic activities, truly separating government from enterprises and separating government from capital.
Choosing a socialist market economy to make the market play a fundamental role in the allocation of resources requires enterprises to become independent market subjects and interest subjects, operate independently, take responsibility for their own profits and losses, and bear their own risks. It is easier for non-state-owned enterprises to do this, although there are still many government administrative interventions that need to be solved step by step. For state-owned enterprises, it is not easy. The experience of more than 20 years of reform and opening up shows that state-owned enterprises have become independent market players from being subordinate to competent departments, which is a thoroughly remoulded transformation. On the one hand, as far as enterprises are concerned, they used to rely on higher authorities to act according to instructions, regardless of economic benefits, and did not have the enthusiasm and initiative to improve management. Now, if we want to become an independent market subject, operate independently and be responsible for our own profits and losses, we must try our best to adapt to the market, participate in market competition and take risks. If it is done well, it will continue to grow and develop, and operators and employees will also increase their income, otherwise they may lose money or even go bankrupt. The market mechanism is like a ruthless whip, which urges enterprises to constantly improve their technology and management level and move forward again, never stopping and never slacking off. On the other hand, as far as the government is concerned, in the past, it directly directed various microeconomic activities, examined and approved various economic activities of enterprises, and issued instructions. Because of the multi-head management of the enterprise, the production and operation of the enterprise have been done well, and all departments are vying to record the credit in their own names. Once something goes wrong, they will pass the buck and no one will take responsibility. Therefore, to promote market-oriented reform, the most important thing is to change government functions, separate government from enterprises, separate government from capital, stop government intervention in enterprise production and operation activities, and cancel some professional departments that were originally in charge of enterprises. Because such reforms touch the interests of many administrative departments and their officials, they are often blocked by these departments and have many difficulties. Being a "mother-in-law" is also used to it. Once she can't give orders, she feels bad. Therefore, in order to truly become an independent market entity, state-owned enterprises must adhere to the separation of government and enterprise, government and capital, and must be coordinated by the transformation of government functions. The government will no longer interfere in microeconomic activities, and its functions will be transformed into economic regulation, market supervision, social management and public services, that is, mainly serving market players and creating a good development environment.
It should be pointed out that until now, the reform of the transformation of government functions, the separation of government and enterprise, and the separation of government and capital has not been fully put in place. Some former administrative departments have been transformed into administrative companies and flop companies, and they still directly intervene in the production and business activities of enterprises. Even if the joint-stock system reform is carried out in state-owned enterprises, as long as state-owned shares are dominant, it will be difficult to separate government from enterprises, because state-owned holding companies have actually become the "mother-in-law" of joint-stock companies, and holding companies are often the administrative companies and flop companies mentioned above. This makes the joint-stock company change the system on the surface, but there is no separation between government and enterprises, and it is still not a real market subject. There are also government departments, especially many local governments, which tend to "cherish" local enterprises, whether state-owned or non-state-owned. They not only open the market for the products of local enterprises by blocking the market, but also provide convenient conditions for the construction and development of local enterprises from the aspects of project establishment, financing, taxation and land use. Sometimes even by hook or by crook, such as the "Tieben Incident" in Jiangsu Province in 2004. It is inconceivable that a small private iron and steel enterprise owner with only 300 million yuan invested 654.38+000 billion yuan to build a large iron and steel enterprise with an annual output of more than 8 million tons, and illegally occupied more than 2,000 mu of agricultural land without the approval of the environmental protection department and the strong help of the local government. Moreover, when local enterprises are facing bankruptcy or debt-ridden due to poor management, local governments will stand up as umbrellas, plead with the central government, and ask the central government for money or loans, which is equivalent to assuming unlimited responsibilities for enterprises. This is contrary to the principle of market economy, is a serious dislocation of government functions, and is a manifestation that enterprises have not yet become real market players.
To make state-owned enterprises become independent market players, it is necessary not only to separate government from enterprises, but also to separate government from capital, that is, to separate the government's public management function from the government's performance of the state-owned assets investor function. When the government performs the function of investor in the state-owned assets of wholly state-owned enterprises, holding and shareholding enterprises, it only acts as the boss and shareholder, not as the mother-in-law, and can't play the role of the board of directors and manager, otherwise it will become the boss and mother-in-law, and it will still be a distinction between government and enterprise.
It can be seen that in order to act in accordance with the laws of the socialist market economy and make the market play a fundamental role in resource allocation, enterprises must first become independent market entities, and the government mainly performs public management functions. It should be noted that this problem has not been solved, and we should continue to deepen reform and gradually put it in place.
Three, the national macro-control is mainly to implement the Scientific Outlook on Development and promote the steady and rapid development of the national economy.
Modern market economy is not completely regulated by market mechanism, but by national macro-control. So is the socialist market economy.
The report of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China put forward: "Promoting economic growth, increasing employment, stabilizing prices and maintaining the balance of international payments are the main objectives of macro-control." This is a scientific summary of China's rich experience in macro-control in the past 20 years of reform and opening up, which conforms to the law of market economy development. Many market economy countries in the world regard the above four aspects as the main goals of national macro-control. Practice at home and abroad shows that under the condition of market economy, we should handle the relationship between growth and stability, not only to promote economic growth, but also to maintain economic stability. In the long run, it is the most desirable and fastest to achieve economic growth in economic stability. Otherwise, one-sided pursuit of economic growth, not paying attention to economic stability, and not seeking growth in stability will easily lead to ups and downs, which will inevitably bring waste and loss of productivity. It's slower to take a detour like this. Among the first four goals, the first is to promote economic growth, and the last three are to maintain economic stability. Therefore, the national macro-control can be summarized as promoting the steady and rapid development of the national economy. The key is that under the condition of economic stability, the market signal is relatively stable and accurate, and the function of the market to effectively allocate resources can be better played, which is conducive to promoting economic growth and achieving rapid development.
Under the condition of socialist market economy, in order to do a good job in macro-control, we must establish and conscientiously implement the Scientific Outlook on Development and realize comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development. This is an important summary of China's experience in developing socialist market economy. The basic content of Scientific Outlook on Development is people-oriented and five overall plans, namely, urban and rural development, regional development, economic and social development, harmonious development between man and nature, and domestic development and opening up. The essence of overall planning is coordination, and the essence of five overall planning is to realize five coordinated development. Realizing the five overall plans can not only effectively maintain economic stability, but also seize the opportunity to promote economic growth, thus achieving steady and rapid development of the national economy.
Under the condition of market economy, macro-control mainly adopts economic and legal means. This is fundamentally different from the fact that the state mainly uses administrative means to regulate social and economic activities under the planned economy. Specifically, the fiscal and monetary policy is to implement a tight fiscal and monetary policy when the economy is overheated or tends to be overheated; On the contrary, when the economy is too cold or deflation occurs, loose fiscal and monetary policies are implemented. The purpose is to maintain economic stability, try to smooth the range of economic fluctuations and prevent ups and downs. Sometimes people call this kind of operation counter-cyclical measures, the purpose is to make the economy not rise too high when it rises, and strive to extend the rising period; Don't fall too much in the recession and don't last too long. Therefore, the macro-control of the country and the implementation of loose or tight fiscal and monetary policies are aimed at achieving short-term (usually one or two years) economic balance, rather than long-term corresponding. If we extend the active fiscal policy implemented since 1998, it seems that it is not consistent with the macro-control function under the market economy. Related to this, it seems that we should not take expanding domestic demand as a long-term policy. When there is inflation or obvious inflationary pressure, it is worth studying whether we can talk about expanding domestic demand in general. For example, in 2004, consumer demand was mainly expanded, but investment demand did not expand. On the contrary, it should be limited, because since 2003, investment in China has been overheated on the whole.
In China, industrial policy is often regarded as an important macro-control policy. This is a very complicated and controversial issue in economics. In the past, because the industrial policies formulated and implemented by the government were basically unworkable in practice, even industries encouraged by the government often failed to develop, while industries restricted by the government flourished, so many people doubted the effectiveness of industrial policies. Considering that China's state-owned economy is strong, state-owned assets exceed the annual GDP, and the government's economic function has always been strong, the government often uses industrial policies to adjust the industrial structure. Therefore, in addition to fiscal and monetary policies, macro-control can also use industrial policies to improve industrial structure, strengthen weak links and curb excessive expansion of certain industries. As for whether the government's industrial policy is effective, it mainly depends on whether the formulation of the policy conforms to the laws of the market economy, whether it conforms to the country's long-term development strategy, and whether it is conducive to the steady and rapid development of the national economy.
Fourth, scientifically evaluate the effect of market economy activities to ensure the sustainable development of socialist market economy.
China's socialist market economy is dominated by the government, which plays an important role in the market economy. The difficulty in scientifically evaluating the effect of market economy activities lies not in enterprises, but in the government, especially how to evaluate the achievements of local governments and their officials.
In the past, people generally used GDP and its growth rate as the main criteria for evaluating government performance, ranking it every year. If the GDP growth rate is high, the political achievements will be excellent; If GDP growth rate is low, political achievements will be poor. As a result, all localities are competing for the rapid growth of GDP and want to win the first place. If you are quick, I will be faster than you. So people describe these local governments as GDP governments. However, years of practice, especially in recent years, show that there are many problems in doing so.
First, taking GDP growth rate as the only or main index to evaluate government achievements will inevitably ignore the development of various social undertakings, resulting in an uncoordinated situation of long economic development and short social development. Deng Xiaoping said that development is the last word. However, development includes both economic development and social development, including the development of science and technology, education, environmental protection, culture, medical care, health, fitness, tourism, leisure and entertainment. The purpose of development is to improve people's living standards and quality, and finally realize people's all-round development. This requires not only economic development and more and more social material wealth, but also the development of various social undertakings, so that people can receive good education, medical care and health care, and have a beautiful living environment and rich cultural life. According to the report of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, "in the first two decades of this century, we should concentrate on building a well-off society at a higher level, which will benefit more than one billion people, and make the economy more developed, democracy more sound, science and education more advanced, culture more prosperous, society more harmonious and people's lives more affluent." To achieve this, only economic development and GDP growth are not enough, but also the development of social undertakings. Therefore, to look at the political achievements of a local government, we should not only look at GDP growth.
Second, taking GDP growth rate as the only or the most important index to evaluate the government's achievements will also encourage the government's short-term behavior and affect the sustainable development of the economy. Because of economic growth and GDP growth, we can adopt the method of rapid water flow, that is, extensive expansion, which consumes a lot of resources and energy, destroys the ecological environment and achieves rapid growth in a short time. This is obviously undesirable and unsustainable for a country with relatively insufficient resources, fragile ecology and serious environmental pollution. According to the report of the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China should take a new road of industrialization, that is, "a new road of industrialization with high technology content, good economic benefits, low resource consumption, less environmental pollution, and full play to the advantages of human resources". It is reported that since the founding of New China for more than 50 years, China's gross domestic product has increased by more than 10 and the consumption of mineral resources has also increased by more than 40 times. Last year, China consumed about 5 billion tons of domestic and imported resources. The consumption of crude oil, raw coal, iron ore, steel, alumina and cement accounted for 7.4%, 365, 438+0%, 30%, 27%, 25% and 40% of the world consumption respectively, while the GDP created was only equivalent to 4% of the world total. So for our country, it is urgent to change the mode of economic growth and take a new road of industrialization. Looking at the economic development of a region, we should not only look at GDP growth, but also look at the price paid behind GDP growth. Recently, a few scholars suggested using green GDP as an index to evaluate economic development, that is, deducting natural and environmental costs from GDP growth (for example, 1973, the Japanese government stipulated the allowable standards of environmental pollution such as air, water and garbage. If the pollution standards exceed the standard, the improvement funds must be deducted from GDP as the cost. According to this method, Japan's economic growth rate in that year is no longer 8.5%, but 5.8%.
Third, taking GDP growth rate as the only or most important indicator to evaluate government performance will also encourage some government officials to practise fraud. In the past, the popular saying that "officials give figures and figures to officials" mainly refers to officials forging and falsely reporting GDP figures, exaggerating political achievements, and then defrauding promotion. Some local officials are not based on the actual figures, but first inquire about the GDP figures of the surrounding areas, and then instruct the statistical departments to report the GDP growth figures higher than those of other regions to show that their political achievements are better than others. The GDP figures are fraudulent, and it is difficult for ordinary people to supervise.
For the sustainable development of China's socialist market economy, it is necessary to formulate a scientific evaluation system. As far as the whole country or a region is concerned, the first step is to gradually turn the single indicator of GDP growth into various indicators. For example, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development put forward four indicators in social, environmental, economic and institutional aspects. We can learn from it. The second is to gradually develop GDP indicators into green GDP indicators. Then there is to strengthen the verification of statistical data, severely punish counterfeiters and enhance the transparency and accuracy of statistical information. It can be seen that it is of great significance for the sustainable development of socialist market economy to find a correct index system to evaluate the effect of socialist market economy activities.
Five, standardize market economic activities according to law, to ensure the healthy operation of the market economy.
Modern market economy is an economy ruled by law, and socialist market economy is also an economy ruled by law. The practice of market economy at home and abroad proves that only when the market economy runs on the track of rule of law can it play its positive role more effectively and reduce all kinds of negative effects brought about by its spontaneous adjustment. Market economy is a competitive economy, and fair competition is implemented to improve efficiency. It is necessary to standardize how to compete and form effective competition rules or game rules. It can be seen that the socialist market economy can only ensure its healthy development if it runs on the track of rule of law.
From 65438 to 0997, the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China decided the general plan of governing the country according to law. This is a major change from the rule of man to the rule of law in China. In line with this, the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to strengthen legislative work and improve the quality of legislation to adapt to the development of socialist market economy, all-round social progress and the new situation of China's accession to the WTO, and to form a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics by 20 10. This legal system should meet the requirements of the laws of the market economy and serve to consolidate the economic foundation of the socialist market economy. The Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee further proposed to comprehensively promote the construction of economic legal system, that is, according to the basic strategy of governing the country according to law, focusing on establishing rules and regulations, standardizing powers and responsibilities, safeguarding rights and interests, and strengthening economic legislation. It mainly includes: perfecting the legal system of market subjects and intermediary organizations, so that all kinds of market subjects really have full capacity for behavior and responsibility. Improve the legal system of property rights, standardize and straighten out property rights relations, and protect all kinds of property rights and interests. Improve the legal system of market transactions, guarantee freedom of contract and transaction safety, and maintain fair competition. We will improve laws and regulations on budget, taxation, finance and investment, and standardize economic regulation and market supervision. Improve laws and regulations on employment and social security, and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers and citizens. Improve laws and regulations in the social field and sustainable development, and promote economic development and all-round social progress.
According to the requirements of the economy ruled by law, on the one hand, microeconomic entities, mainly enterprises, should operate according to law, pay taxes according to regulations, handle internal relations of enterprises according to law, especially protect the legitimate rights and interests of employees, and abide by laws and regulations such as environmental protection, safety and contracts. At the same time, we should protect the independence and various rights and interests of enterprises as market subjects, and protect the property rights of enterprise legal persons and so on. On the other hand, the government is required to be a government ruled by law. The government should manage enterprises, social organizations and individuals according to law, and cannot give orders casually. At the beginning of 2004, the State Council issued the "Implementation Outline of Comprehensively Promoting Administration by Law", which stated that China would basically achieve the goal of building a government ruled by law through unremitting efforts for about ten years, mainly including seven aspects. First, realize the separation of government from enterprise. Second, propose legal bills and draft local regulations. Third, laws, regulations and rules have been fully and correctly implemented. Fourth, a scientific, democratic and standardized administrative decision-making mechanism and system have basically taken shape. Fifth, form an efficient, convenient and low-cost mechanism to prevent and resolve social contradictions. Sixth, administrative power is closely linked to responsibility and completely decoupled from the interests of the subject of administrative power. Seventh, improve the legal quality of administrative personnel, especially leading cadres at all levels. It can be seen that in the future, the government's management and intervention in the economy should be carried out according to law, and it can no longer rely mainly on administrative means to issue instructions as in the past planned economy period. Due to the separation of government functions from enterprises, the government's economic adjustment is mainly to implement appropriate fiscal and monetary policies through economic and legal means, and to use economic levers such as interest rates, tax rates and exchange rates.
In the socialist market economy, it is very important to correctly define the relationship among policies, markets and enterprises. Generally speaking, the government should leave whatever the market can solve and is efficient. Where citizens, enterprises, social organizations, including intermediary organizations, can independently and effectively solve problems, unless otherwise provided by law, the government should not be in charge. The government is mainly engaged in public management. The government should be thrifty, efficient and clean when using the money paid by taxpayers. Government officials should understand that not only the power is given by the people, but also the income of the government is paid by the people and should be taken from and used by the people. Some officials believe that it is impossible for the government to give people more than they take. The government's money is paid by taxpayers and the people. It is good to spend money on people. Government is not the main body of wealth creation. It is a good thing that the government can spend less and do more to serve the people. These must be determined by laws and regulations and become everyone's knowledge and code of conduct.
In addition, law enforcement must be fair. There can be no laws to follow, no laws to be obeyed, no lax enforcement, and no unfair enforcement. No matter how good the law is, it's useless if it can't be implemented fairly, and the socialist market economy still can't run on the track of the rule of law. Therefore, we must form a good concept of the rule of law and law-abiding consciousness in the whole society and form a good judicial environment. In this regard, in addition to publicity and education, government leading cadres should take the lead in law enforcement and strictly enforce the law, so that everyone is truly equal before the law, and no one can be above the law.