Capitalist profit calculation and inflation accounting: A comment

Abstract

Mises’ ‘calculation argument’ against socialism argues that monetary calculation is indispensable as a commensurable unit for evaluating factors of production. This is not due to his conception of rationality being purely ‘algorithmic,’ for it accommodates non-monetary, incommensurable values. Commensurability is needed, rather, as an aid in the face of economic complexity. The socialist Neurath's response to Mises is unsatisfactory in rejecting the need to explore possible non-market techniques for achieving a certain degree of commensurability. Yet Neurath's contribution is valuable in emphasizing the need for a balanced, comparative approach to the question of market versus non-market that puts the commensurability question in context. These central issues raised by adversaries in the early socialist calculation debate have continued relevance for the contemporary discussion.     

Migration and the reconfiguration of Malaysia

This article examines the social impact of the 1997 financial crisis in South Korea. Although the crisis was short-lived, it has created major ripples all across the country, profoundly affecting the Koreans' lifestyle and family life as well as their values and worldview. In spite of the magnitude of the financial crisis and its social impact, scant scholarly attention has been paid to the issue, although the causes and economic impact of the crisis have been amply discussed. In view of this, the article examines major social changes brought upon by the financial crisis. The article probes, for example, how employment patterns have been deeply affected, whereby a majority of workers are now irregular workers or are underemployed. The article also demonstrates how the people's perception of work has changed and how the income gap between the rich and the poor has widened. Also discussed are, among others, the continuing discrimination against women in the workplace, rising divorce rate, increase in immigration and value conflicts over the relevance of Confucianism in contemporary Korea. In addition, the article examines the agency of the Korean people in reacting to or coping with the changing circumstances.     

以人为本:我国政府的价值定位

强调以人为本,是对政府与社会之间关系的准确解读,也是校正政府价值定位的新起点。本文首先对以人为本的科学内涵进行解读,其次分析了以人为本在我国近现代以来的历史传承,并分析了以人为本理念下的服务型政府建设对全能主义模式下"为人民服务"的继承与超越。本文的结论是,以人为本理念的确立不仅是党和政府服务宗旨的再次张扬,而且是我国制度建设的逻辑起点,为政府行为模式的确定和制度体系的全面建设奠定了基础。     

The iron law of democratic socialism: British and Austrian influences on the young Karl Polanyi

Abstract

A central thesis of Karl Polanyi's The great transformation concerns the tensions between capitalism and democracy: the former embodies the principle of inequality, while democracy represents that of equality. This paper explores the intellectual heritage of this thesis, in the ‘functional theory’ of G.D.H. Cole and Otto Bauer and in the writings of Eduard Bernstein. It scrutinizes Polanyi's relationship with Bernstein's ‘evolutionary socialism’ and charts his ‘double movement’ vis-à-vis Marxist philosophy: in the 1910s he reacted sharply against Marxism's deterministic excesses, but he then, in the 1920s, engaged in sympathetic dialogue with Austro-Marxist thinkers. The latter, like Bernstein, disavowed economic determinism and insisted upon the importance and autonomy of ethics. Yet they simultaneously predicted a law-like expansion of democracy from the political to the economic arena. Analysis of this contradiction provides the basis for a concluding discussion that reconsiders the deterministic threads in Polanyi's oeuvre. Whereas for some Polanyi scholars these attest to his residual attraction to Marxism, I argue that matters are more complex. While Polanyi did repudiate the more rigidly deterministic of currents in Marxist philosophy, those to which he was attracted, notably Bernstein's ‘revision’ and Austro-Marxism, incorporated a deterministic fatalism of their own, in respect of democratization. Herein lies a more convincing explanation of Polanyi's incomplete escape from a deterministic philosophy of history, as exemplified in his masterwork, The great transformation.     

论毛泽东法律监督思想的“群众路线”内核

毛泽东法律监督思想作为毛泽东思想的重要组成部分,是中国特色社会主义法律体系的重要指导思想。在毛泽东法律监督思想中,贯穿始终的"群众路线"内核,是对马克思、恩格斯、列宁法律监督思想"人民性"的继承和超越,这对当下中国特色社会主义建设和法律监督工作具有非常重要的指导意义。     

中国特色社会主义的基本规律

中国特色社会主义的基本规律,主要体现为:把马克思主义基本原理与中国国情和时代特征相结合,走自己的社会主义建设道路,是中国特色社会主义的核心;中国特色社会主义道路、理论体系、制度,是中国特色社会主义的三大要素;一元与多样的辩证统一,是中国特色社会主义的基本特征;"一个中心、两个基本点"的基本路线,是中国特色社会主义的生命线;坚持科学发展,是中国特色社会主义的根本要求;注重社会主义实践创新、理论创新、制度创新,是中国特色社会主义的本质;实事求是,是中国特色社会主义的精髓。     

以反腐倡廉建设推进中国特色社会主义理论体系大众认同

反腐倡廉是中国特色社会主义理论体系的内在要求,推进中国特色社会主义理论体系大众认同,不仅需要宣传普及中国特色社会主义理论体系,还要坚持反腐倡廉,纯洁党风政风,营造良好的政治生态环境。当前的腐败现象严重损害了人民利益,给反马克思主义思潮提供了生存空间,阻碍了中国特色社会主义的建设进程,直接危及中国特色社会主义理论体系的大众认同。必须以反腐倡廉切实维护人民群众的根本利益,为推进中国特色社会主义理论体系大众认同创设重要条件;必须以反腐倡廉切实维护中国共产党的自身形象,为推进中国特色社会主义理论体系大众认同提供根本保障;必须以反腐倡廉增强中国特色社会主义理论自信,为推进中国特色社会主义理论体系大众认同激发内生动力。     

论解放思想与中国特色社会主义

解放思想是发展中国特色社会主义的重要法宝。我们党在解放思想中举起中国特色社会主义旗帜,在解放思想中开创中国特色社会主义道路,在解放思想中构建中国特色社会主义理论体系,在解放思想中发展中国特色社会主义。我们只有坚定不移地继续解放思想,才能实现科学发展、和谐发展。     

中国转轨经济的特点与成功探索--兼论中国学人向诺贝尔经济学奖冲刺的突破口

中国共产党人把社会主义公有制与市场经济结合起来的成功探索,是旷世未有的伟大的制度创举,是中国转轨经济成功的关键,也是中国转轨经济的本质特征,是中国特色转轨经济学和社会主义经济学对当代世界的巨大贡献,因而必将是中国学人向诺贝尔经济学奖冲刺的突破口。     

从“十大关系”到“十个结合”

《论十大关系》对中国社会主义建设道路的探索具有重要价值,＂十个结合＂是改革开放宝贵经验的科学总结。贯穿从＂十大关系＂到＂十个结合＂的基本线索就是马克思主义基本理论和中国具体实际相结合,其中渗透的则是马克思主义哲学的世界观和方法论。