China and market socialism
Concerning China in particular, Jim Devine wrote:
>
Rather than discussing "market socialism," I think it would be worth
pen-l's while to discuss Charlie Andrews' proposal for competing
not-for-profit enterprises (in his FROM CAPITALISM TO EQUALITY).
<
The last two chapters of From Capitalism to Equality outline an economy of
firms that do not retain profits, nor even aim at them, though the firms
must break even. However, they do compete, and the result is technological
vigor and all that.
These institutions are workable when taking over the U.S. economy. I can't
say whether they were relevant to China in the early 1980s, when the drive
to dismantle the socialist economy and install a capitalist economy became
obvious. See, for example, on-the-ground reports from William Hinton.
That said, the problem in China was not a problem of figuring out economic
institutions that would "overcome imbalance and inefficiency from the Mao
era." (Marty) It was not a tragic policy dilemma (need to promote
efficiency and economic vigor - only remedy is market socialist measures -
market socialism stumbles into capitalism).
1. Any government with a high-priority purpose can figure out institutions
to achieve the purpose. No genius is necessary, and the necessary
brainpower is available.
2. The preceding period was not the Mao era. On the surface it was the Mao
era until 1976. The problem of the era was that the Chinese government did
not have a predominant purpose. The socialists could never get the room
they needed to develop the economy, because the capitalist factions had
enough power to stymie or distort new measures. On the other hand, the
leading adherents of capitalism had bad reputations and could not act boldly.
3. The standoff finally broke in favor of the adherents of capitalism. The
thing to figure out is whether the socialists could have won the struggle
by different political means.
Of course there are nuances to this, but I think it comes down to these
points, not a tragic policy dilemma (need to promote efficiency and
economic vigor - only remedy is market socialist measures - market
socialism tends to stumble into capitalism).
Charles Andrews
Publisher's Web site for From Capitalism to Equality is at
http://www.laborrepublic.org
