Market Economy Tutorial (New Century New Concept Economics Professional Series Textbooks)

Author: Bai Yongxiu Wang Junqi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-17
Features: The market economy is a compulsory course for liberal arts majors in higher education institutions and a core course for economic and management majors. With the development of the market economy and the improvement of the market economy system in China, the teaching reform of the market economy course has been continuously deepened. It can be said that the results have been significant. However, it should also be noted that current market economy textbooks still have unsatisfactory aspects. Most notably, there are two tendencies: one tendency is that when analyzing the market economy, it overly emphasizes the institutional attributes of the market economy, often comparing capitalist and socialist market economies to highlight the characteristics and superiority of socialist market economies; the other tendency is a strong Western influence. It appears to be a market economy textbook, but in reality, it is purely a Western economics textbook, especially with a clear trend toward mathematical and model-based approaches. Numerous curves and charts make the theory of the market economy seem profound and even lead to the result of "importing foreign concepts without fully understanding them" or "not adapting to local conditions." In the long-term teaching of the market economy, we have deeply felt that the above two tendencies may have certain reasonable factors, but their shortcomings are obvious.
From the first tendency, artificially labeling the market economy as "capitalist" or "socialist" in terms of resource allocation is equivalent to defining the market economy as a category of social system attributes, which inevitably leads to contradictions: on one hand, it claims that the market economy is a resource allocation method with no institutional attributes; on the other hand, it desperately searches for differences between socialist and capitalist market economies. This theoretical misunderstanding makes many teachers who teach the market economy unable to provide a coherent explanation and leaves students very confused, inevitably leading to the distortion and deformation of the market economy in practice. In fact, there is no fundamental difference in the essence of market economies worldwide; the only difference lies in environmental conditions, that is, Western countries implement the market economy under capitalist conditions, while we implement it under socialist conditions. The environmental conditions are different, not the market economy itself. Therefore, we support the term "market economy under socialist conditions." We believe that when studying market economy issues, the focus should be on seeking "commonalities" rather than emphasizing "differences." China's market economy has just begun, while in Western countries, the market economy has been operating for several hundred years. Strictly speaking, China is still in the initial stage of market economy development, so it should boldly learn from and adopt advanced management experiences and effective operational methods of Western countries in developing the market economy.
From the second tendency, although the market economy is international, China has its own national conditions, and its market economy is not well-regulated, so it cannot blindly copy Western market economy theories. Although market economy textbooks are closely related to Western economics, they are still two relatively independent disciplines. If the textbook name is simply changed, the teaching of the market economy would lose its reason for existence.
Considering the above, based on summarizing teaching experience and conducting research, we have jointly planned to write the book "Market Economy Tutorial" with teachers from more than ten universities, including Northwest University, Xi'an Political College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an Finance and Economics University, and Xi'an Communication University, who have long been engaged in teaching the market economy. At the beginning of the writing process, we established the following principles and characteristics:
(1) Seek "commonalities" rather than "differences." Focus on analyzing and explaining the basic concepts, principles, and laws of the market economy, without conducting comparative studies between socialist and capitalist market economies.
(2) Seek novelty rather than blindly copying. When presenting market economy theories, do not simply copy and paste Western economics but base the discussion on China's national conditions, boldly "process" and theoretically innovate Western economics, and strive to make breakthroughs in the localization of market economy theory research.
(3) Strive for simplicity. Avoid complex mathematical models and curve charts. We believe that the market economy is a highly practical and operational subject, and quantitative analysis and empirical research methods are acceptable, but the mass foundation must be considered. Use vivid and accessible language and forms that people are willing to accept to make the textbook more、 (closer to the people and closer to life), which is the goal of this textbook.
(4) Adapt to the new situation after joining the WTO. Accelerating the pace of aligning with the mainstream of the international economy is not only the objective need for China's future market-oriented reforms but also the inevitable requirement for the market economy theory to keep pace with the times. Therefore, interpreting new issues in China's market economy operation with internationally standardized economic language is also a feature of this textbook.