經濟學家們評論共產黨的計劃經濟，但都沒有批評到點子上。計劃經濟就沒有市場嗎？工廠生產出東西還是要到市場上去賣，老百姓消費還是要到市場上去買。計劃經濟也離不開市場這個中介，計劃經濟不是沒有市場。
那麽計劃經濟是個什麽東西呢？它為什麽是個僵化的體系呢？這就要從什麽是經濟，什麽是市場說起。
經濟是人們生產活動的總稱，市場是經濟主體交換產品的中介。人們生產和交換是為了什麽？為了生活。所以，經濟也好，市場也好，都是為了人類的生存而進行的人類活動。
人類是分散覆雜的，生產也是靈活隨機的生產活動。每一個主體都有它自己的不同於其它的工作計劃，不可互相代替。市場則是把這各不相同的計劃產生的商品，衡量並連接和交換，以滿足人們生活的需要。因此經濟的第一要素就是為了人的生活進行的活動，第二要素就是覆雜的活動和產品，要經過市場用相對的標準衡量和交換。
計劃經濟不是沒有市場，而是不按照為人們的生活為目標，卻按照某個上級制定的指標為目標進行生產。第二個特點就是按照指標而不是按照覆雜的實際安排生產：沒有市場反聵的信號，只有上級硬性的指標。這就是造成脫離實際，僵化的原因。
計劃和指標錯了嗎？在一個工廠或者農民的生產中，計劃和指標起著不可替代的作用。沒有計劃，工廠沒法生產，沒有計劃，農民會餓死。指標則是人們衡量和比較生產活動效益的工具。沒有這把尺子，人們不知道怎麽做是正確的，怎麽做會造成損失。這都是起碼的常識。
所謂的計劃經濟首先不是為了人們的生活而生產，它是為了完成某些辦公室制定的脫離實際的計劃而生產。通俗地說是為了指標而生產。第二就是它的計劃不可能包括紛繁覆雜的經濟現象，只是按照某種想象的標準做出的計劃。它不可能是符合實際的計劃，和現實中的經濟需要必然存在很大的差距。
而所謂中國模式的半市場經濟，並不是市場經濟，仍然還是指標性的計劃經濟。各級政府控制著私營和公營的企業，不是按照市場反饋，而是按照上級定下的指標指導生產。雖然為幫助西方資本賺取額外的利潤，受到西方政府的輸血看上去發展不錯，但中國本身的國內市場沒有正常的發展，一旦停止輸血，被打回到緩慢發展那就是必然現象。
民主政治是建立在市場經濟基礎上的。它反過來要求和保護真實的市場經濟，而不是所謂的半市場經濟，實際仍然是指標性的計劃經濟。民主政治必須把經濟指標當作衡量的標準，而不是當作指導生產的目標。經濟活動的目的永遠只能是為了滿足人們生活的需要，而不是滿足某些機構制定的指標。
民主政治所保障的市場經濟，必須是在合法前提下的自由的市場經濟，而不能是為了滿足上級制定的指標，或者數字遊戲。民主國家限制政府對經濟活動的幹預，實行小政府大社會的原則，給所有的經濟實體以最大限度的發展空間。這樣的真正的市場經濟，才能保證正常的發展，才能保證人們從經濟發展中獲得最大的利益。
經濟只能由所有經濟實體自主的，靈活的反映來保證最好的效益。徹底排除指標性的計劃經濟，中國的發展才能走上正軌，而不是富了國內外的資本家，窮了中國的老百姓。
英文版（黃慈萍翻譯）：
What Kind of Democracy Is More Suitable for China (Part 4)
— Wei Jingsheng
Economists criticize the planned economy of the Communist Party, but they do not criticize it to the point. Doesn’t a planned economy have a market? Things produced by factories still have to be sold in the market, and people still have to go to the market to buy things for consumption. The planned economy is also inseparable from the market as an intermediary. The planned economy does not mean that there is no market.
So what is a planned economy? Why is it a rigid system? This starts with what is the economy and what is the market.
Economy is the general term for people’s production activities, and the market is the intermediary through which economic entities exchange products. What do people produce and exchange for? For their living. Therefore, whether it is the economy or the market, they are all human activities carried out for the survival of mankind.
Human beings are scattered and complex, and production is also a flexible and random activity. Each subject has its own work plan that is different from others and cannot be replaced by each other. The market measures, connects and exchanges the goods produced by different plans to meet the needs of people’s lives. Therefore, the first element of the economy is activities for human life, and the second element is complex activities and products, which must be measured and exchanged by relative standards through the market.
It is not that there is no market in a planned economy, but rather that production is carried out in accordance with the targets set by a superior rather than by people’s lives. The second characteristic is that production is based on targets rather than complex actual arrangements: there are no signals of market reaction, only rigid targets from superiors. This is what leads to rigidity and detachment from reality.
Are plans and targets wrong? In the production of a factory or farm, plans and targets play an irreplaceable role. Without a plan, factories cannot produce, and without a plan, farmers will starve to death. Targets are tools for people to measure and compare the benefits of production activities. Without this ruler, people do not know whether what they do is correct and what will cause losses. This is all basic common sense.
The so-called planned economy does not produce for the sake of people’s lives. It produces for the completion of plans made by certain offices that are divorced from reality. In layman’s terms, it is produced for targets. The second is that its plans cannot include complicated economic phenomena, but are only plans based on some imagined standards. It cannot be a realistic plan, and there will be a big gap between it and the actual economic needs.
The so-called semi-market economy of the Chinese model is not a market economy, but still is a planned economy with targets. Governments at all levels control private and public enterprises and guide production according to targets set by superiors rather than market feedback. Although the blood transfusions received from the Western governments in order to help Western capital earn extra profits seem to be developing well, China’s own domestic market is not developing normally. Once the blood transfusions are stopped, it inevitably will return to slow development.
Democratic politics is based on a market economy. In turn, it requires and protects a real market economy, rather than a so-called semi-market economy, which is actually still a planned economy with targeted goals. Democratic politics must regard economic indicators as a standard of measurement rather than as a goal to guide production. The purpose of economic activities can always only be to meet the needs of people’s lives, rather than to meet the targets set by certain institutions.
The market economy guaranteed by democratic politics must be a free market economy under legal premises, and cannot be to meet the targets set by superiors or to play a game of numbers. Democratic countries limit government intervention in economic activities, implement the principle of small government and big society, and give all economic entities the maximum space for development. Only such a true market economy can ensure normal development and ensure that people obtain the maximum benefits from economic development.
The economy can only ensure the best benefits through the independent and flexible reflection of all economic entities. Only by completely eliminating the planned economy can China’s development be on the right track, instead of enriching domestic and foreign capitalists and impoverishing the Chinese people.
(This English version is translated by Ciping HUANG, without any compensation. Wei Jingsheng and the Wei Jingsheng Foundation appreciate her decades of contribution, especially for allowing the use and distribution of her translations of these commentaries.)
轉自魏京生基金會及中國民主運動海外聯席會議郵件群
